"Oh, Momma, Is this really the end?"

By freeacre

"Oh, Momma, could this really be the end? To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again?” - Bob Dylan

I have close to twenty doom movies, but I am not a collector. I don’t have ceramic cows or turtles or a glass menagerie. I guess they are like books on survival subjects. They vary in production value, acting, direction, and plausibility. But, I’ve got to admit that I’m hooked on the drama. Whether it’s a cheesy portrayal of FEMA’s response to “quantum” electrical grid surges, or tear-jerking heroics of Robert Duval in “Deep Impact,” or sensational battles between aliens and humanity In “Independence Day,” they’ve got me. Dealing with the assorted threats of coronal mass ejections from the sun, colliding asteroids, invading aliens, nuclear war, robotic take-over, contagion, radical climate change, earthquakes, and zombie attacks is compelling. And, all together, they are somewhat amusing. But, that’s just me.

It helps me get my mind around the end times. Keep in mind that we have, and have always had, an expiration date for this incarnation. There is no way around the fact. So, I guess I find some comfort in the knowledge that we were born into these intense times. I could have been born in some dusty village somewhere and carried water on my head every day of my life, and died of exhaustion and boredom. That would really suck.

But, none of those movies so far deals with the current science that indicates that the solar system is heading into the galactic center and through a cosmic “fluff cloud” that is giving off some sort of energy that is making significant changes already. Carbon 14 readings, for instance, are no longer as reliable. Time may be literally speeding up. A second sun and its associated planets and debris may be heading our way. Therefore, and as recorded in the geologic record, the magnetic polarity of the earth may switch. The magnetic force that our earth protects us from gamma rays with has been weakening for many years. The neutrinos in the earth’s core may be heating up, loosening the continental plates, or making the earth expand. All these things appear to be cyclical. And they seem to be happening again at this time.

Many traditions have referred to the End Times. Many tell tales of destruction and eventual renewal. In fact, the Archdruid writes in “Apocalypse Not” that there has hardly been a generation since Zorathustra that hasn’t thought that the end was near either due to The Rapture or some other type of Judgment Day.

These long cycles seem different, to me, though. The crustal plates do seem to be breaking up, NASA has announced that there is a BIG asteroid heading our way (since redacted), and earthquakes are getting more frequent. We are probably not helped by all the thousands of fracking wells being drilled all over the place as they mine for natural gas.

As if this weren’t enough to provoke an anxiety attack by Christmas, back on earth, in real time, the news is filled with potential financial collapse, Europeans are committing suicide when faced with evictions and unemployment, masses are fighting in the streets, there's a possible break-up on the European Union. Let’s not forget the wars in the Middle East and the potential ones ahead.

Here at home, we’ve got the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. The massive failure of our decrepit electrical grid and the difficulty in fixing it in short order, and thousands of families still suffering. The money we need to fix things here at home so the whole damn place doesn’t look like Detroit has been spent and re-spent. Now we work with loaned money that we can’t repay. Since we have given our financial sovereignty over to the central banks of the world, they’ll probably decide that the only thing to do is start over with a new global currency and one world government. Yada, yada, yada…

Oh, then there is the horrifying glimpses into the worlds of pedophilia, torture, human trafficking, military renditioning, drone strikes, cyber-surveillance, the Patriot Act, and the tyranny of the advancing corporate police state. In comparison, it’s making the greed-heads on Wall St. seem less sinister. Fuck. I thought they were bad.

I find myself more sympathetic to those of us who keep the aperture of their awareness pretty well shut to what is going on around us all. I think it is maybe not so much due to indifference, but self-defense. It just may be that knowing these things and the suffering of those around us is just too much of a heart-breaker to bear. I, for one, sometimes feel like wrapping a bungee cord tightly around my head so it doesn’t explode.

For those of us who, for some damn reason, have our eyes wide open, how do we cope with this set of bizarre circumstances? I hearken back to being grateful that I am not carrying water on my head, even though I feel guilty for those who do. I’m also grateful for my friends and my tribe. I am happy that my husband is also my best friend. I go ahead and order a calendar for next year, even though I am not sure there will be one. I continue to go to civic meetings and plan for the holidays. I’m not waiting for anything special to use the good silverware. I’m trying to be as compassionate and forgiving as I can be. I am cultivating confidence that our children will not perish, but prevail, and transform this reality into something better than we have wrought. I believe some things just because they are worth believing in. I remember that I have never made a plan for beyond Dec. 21, 2012. I have just wanted to live long enough to see what, if anything, would happen by then. So, if we make it through this year, I guess I’ll have to write a new script. Maybe it will be like “The Road.” Or, maybe it will be “Murph and freeacre’s Excellent Adventure.” Either way, it won’t be long now.