Client Story: Liza
¨The Metacrisis F*cked Up My Post-Menopausal Bliss¨:
Turning Climate Anxiety and Collapse Despair Into A Joyful New LIfe Right Where You Are
Liza is a divorced mother of two adult children in their early twenties. She and her ex-husband got divorced amicably years ago, and chose to share their suburban home. L. lived there with the kids during the week, while her ex stayed in an apartment nearby. They switched on weekends.
Liza had just begun to recognize the reality of our metacrisis. She reached out to me with this message: ¨The metacrisis f*cked up my post-menopausal bliss. I made a solemn oath: I will somehow find a way to thrive without murdering any billionaires. Can you help me with that?¨
(I love when clients bring humor even on their darkest days!)
Problem: Climate anxiety, collapse grief, existential dread
Process: 30 days of Collapse Companioning™
Outcome: Built friendships with neighbors, collaborated for mutual aid, learned new skills that boosted her personal and neighborhood resilience, created joyful community action weekly.
Here's Liza´s story in her own words:
¨My ex is a fantastic dad, and I am so proud of us for doing the co-parenting thing so well together.
For years, he was at the house on weekends, taking the kids to soccer and birthday parties. So, he often had casual chats with the neighbors, but I never really did.
Frankly, I had zero energy to invest in neighborhood relationships. I handled the morning rush, worked full days, then came home to do the afternoon pick-ups, dinner, and homework. I was either 100% on at work or 100% on with my kids at home. Weekends were my time to go for long walks and relax in our apartment.
Even once the kids moved out and I had the house all to myself, I didn´t do more than nod and wave at my neighbors. It felt weird to suddenly start chatting after living there for years without saying anything!¨
Menopause and the Metacrisis
¨When the kids were in high school, perimenopause slammed into me like a bullet train. I was completely miserable, and nothing helped. Thank god for my ex, who was great at swooping in and saving the day.
So, when that craziness suddenly just stopped, I was shocked by my ease and equanimity. It was fabulous!
And then I went and read Jem Bendell´s paper and his book, Breaking Together. It broke me all right, making the crying jags and no-reason rage of my forties look like utter bliss.¨
The online group chats on collapse made me want to crawl into a hole. What I needed was a DEFCON 1 level of all-me love bombing.
And that´s exactly what Maya gave me. I was terrified for my kids, grieving about what we are losing, and outraged by the decision-makers who are still(!) choosing to put our planet dead last.
When we got to the part about imagining positive futures, my strategist mind just LIT UP! I could not wait to start my action plan, and damned if it didn´t turn things around in, like, three days.¨
UPDATE: One Year After Her Collapse Companioning Experience
¨I am a much kinder and sillier version of myself. That is a huge relief, because I was worried I might opt for sad resignation and feel dead inside forever.
I feel more love for others around me, and my secret turn-neighbors-into-garden-advisors plan has created the most joyful part of my life. I never imagined I would be completely surrounded by good folks so happy to learn and teach new skills!
Our motto is ´Do what you love. No drudgery allowed.´ (Pretty sure I lobbied hard for that one.)
J. grows all the delicious greens for our entire block. I grow a ton of tomatoes. S. focuses on all kinds of beans. R. is our fruit tree and bee whisperer. T. offers chickens and eggs. L. and A. do procurement, meaning they buy our shared supplies (water, generator, etc.) and store them in their garage.
I cannot tell you how blissed-out I am knowing that I don´t have to do everything myself!
In addition to being the tomato queen, my role is preservation. I got into canning and pickling everything, and this just makes me laugh, because it´s so unexpected. I converted part of my garage into a pantry, with shelves of canned fruit, pickles, tomato sauce, pesto, jam, everything. I share most of what I preserve with my neighbors, and get so much good stuff in return.
My life now, over a year after my collapse meltdown, is both peaceful and social.
Because my version of prepping is just puttering in my garden, hosting spontaneous porch parties, and sharing jars and recipes with everyone who passes by.
This new post-doom life makes me wanna dance, and I do, almost every Friday, weather permitting. My neighbors come through the gate into my backyard, we have drinks and snacks, chat, and then I put on some music, and those who choose to (most) dance on my patio for several songs. Everyone is free to offer song choices, so it´s always a wild mix. It is seriously the highlight of our week!
Last Friday night before the dancing started.
Another shocker: I am now in a relationship with one of my neighbors, a man who lost his wife to cancer a few years back. I got to know him because he is our seed collector, and a super-fun dance partner!
Yet another shocker: he is a former MAGA dude, someone I could never have imagined befriending, let alone dating. But he has been through a lot as a widower and single dad, and is a generous, kind, and funny man.
I feel like my heart has been filled with love and light, and that is the most woo thing I have ever typed, but here we are.
THAT is how far I have come in 14 months¨
Maya here.
It´s easy to feel paralyzed by the idea of preparing for hard times.
But preparing can look like asking your neighbors for advice or passing out jars of jam on your front porch or dancing to 80s hits on a Friday night in your backyard.
It can look like learning a new skill you´re excited about.
And it might even look like falling in love with a good person you would have discounted in a different moment.
More friends. More fun.
More joy. More love.
More sharing. More abundance.
It is simple, human, and accessible.
If you want to hear more stories about people choosing to let collapse awareness become an invitation to greater depth, discovery, daring, doing, and delight (despite everything), I invite you to:
Consider starting your own Collapse Companioning story!
Questions? I´m happy to help.
You can use the Contact form
or start a conversation with me about where you are and what you are longing for.
Thank you for being here, and for being open to change!
