Mapping Apocalypse
My thoughts on how it is all going and what we can do.
“…any experience that we have through our senses—whether of sound, or of light, or of touch—is a vibration. And a vibration has two aspects: one called “on,” and the other called “off.”
-Alan Watts
Listen to any seasoned thinker in new physics, evolutionary biology, religious studies, archeology or any subject that includes a calendar, you’ll encounter the idea of breathing. We breath in and breath out—we have to in order to survive. In order to “out with the old and in with the new”, we need to breath. The exchange of elements is essential, but also the rhythm. Our “rhythmic system” syncs us to the larger picture: the in and out of the world, the universe, and the singularity of All That Is:
The tide goes in and the tide goes out.
Night follows day, follows night, follows day.
Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.
The universe engages in the “Big Bounce” from Big Bang to Big Crunch to Big Bang, etc.
Breathing.
So what does this have to do with Apocalypse?
A definition helps. Apocalypse does not mean the end of the world. It means being able to see it. It literally means “unveiling” or “revelation.” It means seeing the truth of what is happening: that the end of the world is approaching. And it is. Not for a while, but it is approaching. Because the world, the universe and all of us, are breathing.
And this freaks us out a little bit.
If you are my age (56) and scroll through social media, you will see bio hack after bio hack to extend your life. Immortality seems to be the goal because death is unknown, scary and probably uncomfortable.
If you are my children’s age (15-22) and scroll through social media, you will see productivity hack after productivity hack helping you be more effective and seen in school or the work place. Making the most of our limited time on the planet is key, because the older generation (mine) screwed up and you have to fix it.
We are all going to die. Maybe tomorrow.
This has always been the case, but the Apocalypse is showing us the reality in detail and all the time. We are shown our mortality by constantly reminding us that we can delay it.
In other words, we have storied death into losing.
Its an effective story that is fun to reproduce in every movie, every book and most conversations. We fight cancer. We slow aging. We beat depression and eliminate anxiety. But of course, that is a story.
And the Apocalypse that interests me the most is the “unveiling” that sickness and death aren’t characters in our story, they are points on a map.
We don’t beat sickness and we don’t avoid death like they are bullies in a back alley, they are markers in our narrative. They are a part of an ever expanding map of our full story which branches in all directions, and all the time.
The Apocalypse that interests me is to unveil that the linear timeline is understandable for screens, but in no way represents what is actually happening. That what is actually happening is that the world is made of stories that unfold into the past as well as the future, that you contain multitudes, and that you are experiencing every possibility of every moment all of the time.
And it is awesome. You think chocolate or roller coasters or tantric intimacy feels good? Wait until you tap into the multiverse and become everyone around you. That is bad ass.
The universe is still expanding. It continues out toward pure chaos and dispersement. We are all breathing out. The vibration of All That Is is “on” and full and a little too much for most of us. That will not lessen in our lifetime. It will not get easier or more simple or more ordered. That isn’t where this is going.
More chaos is ahead, for a very long time.
So what do we do?
Anything you want.
For me, I want to see what is really happening, and I want to respond to it with a sense of marvel and awe. I’m not interested so much in “right and wrong” or “good or evil”. That is like an old cassette player: cute and for collectors, but not for me.
I’m more interested in figuring out how I am you.
And how those two enemies are actually the same person. And how I die in every moment of every day somewhere in the multiverse. And how, so far and somehow, I’m still riding this timeline with a big stupid smile on my face.