I love a good prophecy of doom. The writings of Nostradamus fascinate me, and I’m intrigued by the Mayan calendar, according to which December 21, 2012 will be the end of the current cycle of time. (Interpretations of this vary widely.)
I remember the excitement of the Y2K drama, and how anticlimactic the actual event felt. I know people who stockpiled supplies in case the entire grid went down and society collapsed.
I, on the other hand, barely knew where my flashlight was.
So obviously, while I enjoy the theory of disaster prophecies, I spend no energy preparing for them.
Enter our friend, RF. RF is a world-wandering spiritual seeker, someone who’s studied with Lakota shamans and lived in the wilderness and follows the guidance of “spirit,” or “intuition,” which speaks to him in hard-to-interpret ways. Those who know and love him have learned to respect his intuition, while not always taking it literally.
RF came to visit recently, and informed us that by the end of 2011, our beautiful piece of land here in Alaska—high on a ridge with views of glaciers—will be underwater.
Okaaaay….
He thinks we should go to Hawaii, which he believes will be thrust further above sea level by the earth changes about to take place. In his opinion, the 2012 date is a little off—it’s really more like late 2011.
I’ve never had a personalized prophecy of doom before, and the experience is interesting.
Nothing against Hawaii, but we have a life here in Alaska that would be hard to permanently uproot. A child, friends, work, a home, a huge investment of energy, time and love. It would take something pretty major to make us walk away from that. We have no plans to do so.
But his warning has made me think. A lot. If the sky is about to fall in some way—where do I want to be? What do I want to be doing? Who do I want to be with? After all, the end could come at any moment. I may not even make it to 2011!
I’ve come to the conclusion that the issue isn’t avoiding disasters I can’t control, but living my life in the truest, most graceful way possible until then. If disaster strikes, I want to be with my family, doing the things we love. Basically, I want to be right where I am. Maybe that’s the real purpose of a prophecy of doom—making you examine your life and make changes if any are needed.
Of course, I’ll have my snorkel gear handy come late 2011. And December’s always a nice time of year to visit Hawaii.
What do you think of doom prophecies? What do you think will happen in 2012? What would you do if someone gave you a warning like this? Should we be packing up to go somewhere else?
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