----- Original Message -----

From: aangel

To: Coordinator HUB

Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 4:32 PM

Subject: CoordinatorHUB Re: Peak Oil Interview on Living Green

Hi, Sarah.

Yes, those are very good distinctions that you pull out. The grief model doesn't cover it all, especially since it was constructed to handle the human psyche after an event. With peak oil we're looking at people's response before the event and some things fall out of that.

I mentioned in the interview that I experience fear of how the world could unfold without actually saying what I'm afraid of. When I wake up at night my mind goes to the possibility that that we could enter a Mad Max scenario, and I think that is virtually guaranteed for many parts of the world because it exists now -- just look where there are warlords. So I think it's reasonable to assume that as the conditions that allow warlords to appear spread, the number of warlords will increase, and force will rule the day. I don't know how likely civil breakdown is here in a first world country, but when people are hungry and angry, that's a volatile mix. I think the security industry (locks, alarms, etc.) will see an increase in sales for a while.

The second thing I see when I look from that perspective is the disappointment that people will feel as they realize that the future they were living into will no longer come into existence. In the coaching model I use, what a person is feeling now is a function of the future they are living into. Said more simply, I'm happy when I like what's in my future and I'm unhappy when I don't like what's in my future. 

For example, assume that I am having a normal day and feel "normal." Then I check my lottery ticket and discover that I've won. Now I'm ecstatic. Has anything in reality actually changed yet? No. This emotional change of state occurs simply because I have learned something new about my future. 

But the reverse is also true. Someone at one of my talks asked me, "How do I tell my teenage daughter that her dream of being a professional ballet dancer may never come to pass?" Good question. The daughter will have to create a new future for herself and if she fails to do that then peak oil will leave her in a permanently depressed state. If a sufficient number of fellow citizens fail to create a new future, then we will be living the movie "Children of Men."

One of our jobs as community coordinators is going to be to create compelling futures in our speeches and activities. These must be futures worth living into. But we need to be firm and clear (but still compassionate) with people that the future they currently think is going to occur will not occur. Until that piece is accepted by an individual, there will be no space to create something new.  

----------------------------------------------------

André Angelantoni

Inspiring Green Leadership

Peak Oil, Climate Change and Business, Free Executive Briefing

"... very motivating...A very powerful presentation." - Sun Microsystems

"...fascinating, brilliant and important..." - Tim Black, Director, Marie Stopes International

www.InspiringGreenLeadership.com/peak-oil-climate-change-and-business

On Apr 3, 2008, at 12:01 PM, Sarah Edwards wrote:

So glad to hear more about the personal/emotional side of all this. Have you seen the article Linda Buzzell-Saltzman and I wrote "The Waking-Up Syndrome?" http://www.hopedance.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=413&Itemid=32

We see some parallels between the typical grief process and what people go through in adjusting to peak oil etc, but there are substantail differences too. I have outlined a few of the keys differences I see in my blog, as well as my take on the needed response. http://eco-anxiety.blogspot.com/2008/03/by-sarah-anne-edwards-phd-lcsw-articles.html

 

As always I'd be interested in your thoughts. Here is a segment on the differences I see:

 

"First, what we must face is not one painful, discrete event or loss to which we much adapt. We are faced with an extended series of continual losses ranging from minor inconveniences to major upheavals most likely throughout the rest of our lifetimes. Second, such losses are not limited to just certain aspects of life. Nearly every aspect of our lives will be altered in some way by these changes, eroding the familiar constants that underlie our sense of security. In other words, metaphorically our emotional “blankies” are being snatched away.

Third, unlike with the loss of a loved one, a career, health or even impending loss of life, neither those around us nor society as a whole is yet particularly sympathetic, accepting, understanding or caring toward these concerns. Instead our pain may be denied, mocked, or ridiculed. Our concerns may simply be brushed aside as too much to concern oneself with. No one, for example, tells a grieving widow that her husband is not dead. Nor do we blame and accuse her for spreading negativity when she brings up her feelings of loss and all it complications. Such responses are all too customary, though, when one brings up concerns about the effects of global environmental change.

Finally, many of the things we commonly do to assuage painful losses will either not be helpful or available, particularly if friends and family won’t acknowledge that there is even a reason for them. For example, going shopping, one of the more popular ways we in America deal with unpleasant feelings, will ultimately only aggravate, not ameliorate our growing concerns. Nor will traveling, partying, or of course, turning to drugs, alcohol and other addictive substances. The tornado is still coming and we still know it, even if we want to deny it."

(c) Sarah Anne Edwards, 2008

______________

 

Sarah Anne Edwards, LCSW, PhD Ecopsychologist
Pine Mountain Institute, CEU Courses for Addressing Eco-Anxiety
Co-Author, Middle-Class Lifeboat 
"If we don't change to keep up with our situation we will be in a bad situation." Bo Bice.
_____________

 

Subscribe to our free newsletter - Nature's Wisdom, 
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----- Original Message -----

From: hamzatula

To: Coordinator HUB

Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 11:16 PM

Subject: CoordinatorHUB Re: Peak Oil Interview on Living Green

Hi Andre,
I just listened to your interview as well. Very nice
job, with the focus on the personal/emotional stuff.
I've been using the analogy to Kubler-Ross's 5 stages
of grief for a while now.

I was also impressed with the format on the show and
the Personal Life Media network. What a great vehicle
for disseminating information like this!

I look forward to talking with you and Jonathan on
Friday!

John D.

---------------------------------
Author, Affiliation, Date:
Angelantoni, Post Carbon Marin, April 2, 2008

Body:

Hi, everyone.

My peak oil interview is now up on Living Green.

In it, I discuss:
* when peak oil is likely to occur
* what specifically people should do to prepare
* what I'm calling "The New Game for Humanity"
* the role business can play in a post-peak economy
* the Relocalize and Transition Towns Movements
* and more...

You'll find the interview at
http://www.livinggreenshow.com. Scroll down until you
see "Latest Podcast Episodes" and click on Listen Now
beside #32.

The only thing I would change is that at one point I
say that oil is running out, which technically is true
(that started the day we began to use it) but the more
important concept is that production is about to
decline. Well, I might have upped the urgency to get
in action, too.

I hope you get value out of the podcast.

-Andre'
----------------------------------------------------
André Angelantoni
Inspiring Green Leadership
Peak Oil, Climate Change and Business, Free Executive
Briefing
"... very motivating...A very powerful presentation."
- Sun Microsystems
"...fascinating, brilliant and important..." - Tim
Black, Director, Marie Stopes International
www.InspiringGreenLeadership.com/peak-oil-climate-change-and-business

URL of original article:
http://www.livinggreenshow.com

---------------------------------

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