Hi, GliderGuilder.

Yes, I often fall into the trap of becoming worried about my own annihilation when I think of peak oil. As far as I can tell, it's something evolution selected for otherwise my ancestors wouldn't have survived and I wouldn't be here. That doesn't change the fact that it's a pure physiological/mental response that makes sense for the perpetuation of the species but can make my life uncomfortable right now.

When I can quiet the chatter in my head, I can get to "I am now, then I won't be" — and then interrupt the mechanism that makes that mean anything other than "I am now, then I won't be." I don't have a religious practice so I think that's all there is. (Many religious practices, in my view, are responses to people's discomfort with confronting the eventuality of "not being.")

It is true that destiny will take care of itself. It always seems to. Despite that, I do see something for myself in taking action on the issues facing us. Occasionally I bump into people who make transformation mean that there is no reason to "work on our problems." (This is not so many, actually.) This is the flip side of people who devote their life to solving problems, but suffer immensely because life has become heavy and significant for them. Though a representative of each camp would look at the other as though the other were crazy, both approaches are entirely valid ways of living life.

But what is possible if one were to combine the two approaches? What if one were to play the biggest games available, but play them with ease and fun?

Couldn't we then enjoy life as we improve the conditions of humanity the planet? Even in the face of the calamity before us?

Isn't that what Viktor Frankl saw possible? The German title to his book seems to convey more than the English one: "...saying yes to life regardless: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp" (...trotzdem ja zum Leben sagen (Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager).

That seems to be a worthy practice to take on and one that I do for myself: to live life regardless — while playing the big games that inspire me.

-André

P.S. I've gotten value from Eckhart Tolle's books. I'm up to chapter six of his latest.