(Bell and breath) 

I sometimes try to map out, on a piece of blank paper like this, where I think humanity is at with the ecological crisis…

This helps me, among other things, to come to terms with reality. 

I decided to share this exercise with you, listeners of the conscient podcast, in case you have similar thoughts. 

I’ll start on the left with mitigation, which is the act of reducing the severity, or painfulness, of an activity. In this case, we are mitigating our own self-destruction. 

The second part of my map is adaptation which is the modification of our behaviour that makes us more resilient. In other words, adapting to disasters and catastrophe as the new normal. Adapting to new circumstances. 

Now the third part of my map is called a tipping point line, which is the point when unstoppable changes take place. A kind of tipping into a point of no return. Some say we’re already there, others that we’re very close. But either way the tipping point is a critical moment and it’s one we need to be  aware of. 

Next is survival which is about continuing to live in spite of extremely difficult circumstances. It makes me think of the film Thelma and Louise, some of you might know,  the very last scene, when their car drives off a cliff. I think humanity is like that, in free fall and that some of us might survive. 

The last element of my map is recovery which is a bit more positive, but the recovery happens after the catastrophe and the disasters that are coming. Recovery is that return to a normal and healthy state, where we recover knowledge and skills that are  required, or draw upon new knowledge in order to live in harmony with all living beings on earth. It’s ironic and tragic that we actually could do this now but we chose not to. 

So these are the five elements on my map: mitigation, adaptation, tipping point line, survival and recovery, but the problem is that I’m wrong. The map is wrong. 

The truth is that I don’t know. 

There are endless possibilities and dimensions that I’m not yet able to conceive or understand and yet sometimes, somehow, I can feel them.

So I’m done with drawing maps and speculating with thoughts and ideas. Instead, I’m going to listen to the intelligence of my body, to the intelligence of non-human beings around me, to other forms of knowledge and beings that are emerging, and see where that takes me. 

Thanks for listening.

Oh and my question is…

What possibilities do you not yet know?

*

This episode is a bit raw. I wrote the text in one draft and then recorded it right away before editing it too much. 

I leave it up to the you to determine where their own point of recovery might be: before or after the tipping point line…

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).

My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to the Deep Adaptation Forum.

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.

Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on January 9, 2026