In the last article I discussed all the crazy things that have been going on over the last number of years.
rising polarization and deepening ideological entrenchment
the global pandemic and associated isolation and disconnection
a deepening culture-war being played out on social media
more division - less connection
Russian invasion of Ukraine
tensions with China and North Korea
human rights struggles all through the Middle East
the unchecked climate emergency
"There is no shortage of reasons for apocalyptic and catastrophic thinking," I wrote. I also discussed the impact all of these events have had on me personally - causing me to disconnect for a long while.
A reader wrote back to me (I love it when people reply or comment!) and said my list reminded her of the Billy Joel song, We didn't start the fire. She also mentioned the Steve Miller Band lyrics 'time keeps on ticking, ticking ticking... into the future.' Of course, that left me with Fly Like an Eagle stuck in my head for for a day (thanks Sherry!).
Well, it turns out I wasn't the only one who'd been thinking about all of these negative issues. I read that one dictionary website announced that their word of the year for 2022 was "permacrisis". And this may not just be a recent phenomenon. A commentator for The Guardian wrote that according to a German historian, “we have been living through an age of permanent crisis for at least 230 years.”
Permacrisis: an extended period of instability and insecurity.
Then on January 24th, I heard that the "Doomsday Clock" had been moved up to 90 second to midnight. Somehow, I had managed to completely forget about the doomsday clock. When I heard the name again, it triggered long buried memories from Cold War years of the 1980's. Movies like War Games and Red Dawn and songs like 99 Luftbaloons and 2 Minutes to Midnight popped vividly back into my mind. It was a time that felt like we were always on the edge.
Amazingly, the news of the Doomsday Clock being set to 90 seconds to midnight didn’t send me running for the hills. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect! It grounded me.
You see, the Cold War threats and accompanying pop culture fears of the early and mid 1980's were really just a warm up for me. It was 1988 that the cardiology team gave me my "expiry date" and forced me onto my journey of Mortality. My personal "doomsday clock" was set to 12 years and counting down.
The more I thought about this last week, the more I saw a definite parallel. All the issues the world is facing right now, from the climate crisis to the intense social and economic polarization - everything under the umbrella of "permacrisis"; these can provoke an existential crisis. And what is facing one's own mortality, if not the ultimate and literal existential crisis?
The extraordinary global nature of the first year Covid-19 pandemic had really rattled me and caused me to forget everything my Mortality Mindset had taught me over the last 32 years. Without realizing it, I'd allowed myself to forget who I am.
I am Mortal.
And now that I’m back in touch with that, I’d love to share with you what the last few years have taught me. I’ll do that in the next article!
(Cue David Byrne singing: “Same as it ever was… same as it ever was.”)
And continue to live in the moment.