Outrun the Destruction of the World

“If you stay in one place too long, you’ll be taken over either by your own fixating ideas or by those of others - either of which can immobilize & reform you. To survive one must always be outrunning the destruction of the world.”
-Leslie Scalapino

I don’t know about you, but it feels like the destruction of the world is breathing down our necks.
Climate change.
War.
Politics.
Pandemic.
Collapse.
It seems that it would be extremely useful to be able to outrun this destruction. As a runner, I expect you like your chances if survival depends on using your feet. Regardless of how fit you may be, eventually you’ll get caught. It’s our fate to die. But until that moment, below is a quick primer on outrunning the destruction of the world.

Keep it moving.
It’s so easy to remain in place, to hunker down or seek shelter from the storm. Our body’s natural response to danger is fight, flight or freeze.
If you remain static, you’ll tighten or atrophy.

Movement equals blood flow equals healing.

Keeping it moving also means you need to keep everything moving. Every aspect of your life benefits from movement: your relationships, your view of reality, your goals & ambitions...everything.

It is essential to develop a consistent, fluid practice of checking your assumptions, your expectations & your blindspots to ensure you are more difficult to corner or capture should you come to the attention of this destructive force.

Perhaps this won’t be enough. But I prefer not to play hide & seek, looking for some overlooked place & waiting. I’d rather be run down like a gazelle.

Assume nothing.
As soon as you think you know, you are constrained by that knowledge. So many of us fear the unknown & rely on epistemological strategies to find our place. If you know you don’t know, you’ll be more capable of responding to a difficult challenge because you are seeking a potential solution, not resting on a given. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have a ground or a point of view. We need to have a fundamental ground we operate from, but we should hold our views loosely & flexibly, so as not to get stuck in ruts & dead-end thinking.

We have no idea of what to expect in a collapse scenario. Perhaps the end of the world is a slow descent into oblivion. We don't actually know. There are many different viewpoints put forward but they are all speculative. We can't know. So it's best to assume nothing & move on to...

Be a problem solving motherfucker.
When a problem arises, meet it. Don't ask why; just start moving. If you consider it a challenge, as an opportunity, possible roads open up in front of you. Just having the ability to reframe the perception of an event or experience can make a huge difference in your ability to adapt to the situation. It's the difference between being close or open to what is.

The destruction attempting to run us is not a personal vendetta. It's been a very long journey to get to this point & you didn't cause it. But you will be responsible for dealing with how you respond to its fallout. If you research this topic as I have, you'll see many suggestions for steps you must take to survive. From guns to money stuffed under a bed to private acreage off grid, there are too many contingencies to try to cover.

So first you need to upgrade your cognitive software: know you are capable.

Become capable of the world.
We are so insulated in our modern world. We move from climate controlled homes to climate controlled cars to climate controlled offices. We rarely are forced to interact for significant periods of time with the natural world. We use our apps to navigate, store our money & waste our time. What will we do if we lose touch with the web? While it seems very important to stay connected online these days, it is even more essential to our survival to be connected to the wider web of place.

In the Web of Meaning, Jeremy Lent says:

What am I? As part of life, I am an integrated, dynamic flow of negative entropy, following the same general principles as the rest of the natural world.

It’s not about being a prepper, it’s about having the ability to melt into the background of a natural space, to become one part of a larger environment, to cohere. This capability will serve you well when chaos reigns. By adapting to the patterns of the natural world in this dynamic flow, you'll efficient, effective & resilient.  

Have an emergency plan.
While it is most important to be a problem solving motherfucker, it does make sense to have a plan. Even if it goes to hell, it'll provide a sense of order that can lower the overall stress when the shit does hit the fan.

We rely on supply chains for everything. We push a button & what we want arrives. What happens if any of these fail? Are you capable of getting what you & your loved ones require for basic survival? Do you know where there are clean sources of water? Are you aware of local resources available to help those in need? If there isn’t one locally, can you help develop an emergency plan? I

If the shit really hits the fan, then we need to get through the first 30 days alive. Then we can begin to think more long term. If we can’t feed & defend ourselves & our shelter, it’s unlikely a long-term plan will make any difference.

Your body is your go bag.
If you can’t run, you can’t outrun shit.

Recognize that your body is the most critical piece of equipment you own for survival. You can have all the food, gear, walls or weapons but if your somatic & cognitive edges are not sharpened, those material things are not going to last.

Perhaps you’ll get a day or a week down the road, but if you're not operating on all cylinders in body & mind, you’ll make a critical mistake that will see the end of you. In every single collapse scenario, your greatest asset is your physical & mental health.

As runners, we have a greater capacity to suffer, greater capability of handling the challenges that may arise & a longer tail for survival. Don't miss the opportunity to have yourself ready should we all be unable to outrun the apocalypse.