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Y2K thoughts about fear, despair, dark night of the soul





I feel the general (mass?) fear is one of reliance on a way of
life dependent upon technology. The fear is that if our secure world,
now built and held-together with technology, should fail, we would not
know how to survive ... let alone live 'in the style to which we have
become accustomed'.

The fear is that we would be faced with examining our existence, our
ways of being, our relationships, spirituality and other life issues
that are easily pushed aside by our attention to things technological.

Standing back and taking a much broader view, I might observe the
technological world to be one focussed on the left brain/outer world,
which is out of balance with its counterpart right brain/inner world.
The fear is that, ultimately, balance will be restored through crisis:
according to natural law.

In that sense, to 'out' the fear is to look at how life would be without
technology and to grow a sense of confidence that something wonderful
would unfold. My understanding and experience is that once we face
fears, the feared event does not occur - a more balanced inner state is
reflected as a more balanced outer state.

In my world, where symbolism speaks volumes, our abbreviation to Y2K
amplifies the (mass?) unconscious question: "WHY 2K?" (The question,
around the millenium, becomes WHY? The quest is one of Meaning (why?)
not Science/technology (how?). Perhaps if we don't face the why's, the
fear-of-why will manifest through a deadly Y2K scenario as the teaching
ground, just as physical viruses (cancer?) ultimately carry healing
qualities. So, will we let the virus do its worst damage or will we
defuse the virus through healing our confidence in our ability to be 'in
the right place at the right time'?

Jane Anderson <jane@janeanderson.com.au> 25 July 1998
http://www.janeanderson.com.au

Dear Cynthia,
My daughter is not a beliver of this scary Y2K problem but if you could direct her to some web-sites....that may wake her up. I want her to move home so we can at least be together when this thing starts happening. There are less than 534 days left until year 2000...and I know things are going to start happening much before that.

Thank you,
scared

Dear Scared,

I understand how hard this must be for you.

This is an amazing time, isn't it? It's truly a time when each one of us
has to make their own choice about how clearly and sharply in focus to see
this event that's coming.

Your daughter is probably no exception. But I have a thought for you. I
think that, rather than telling people what we think is going to happen,
and why, we should perhaps try showing them what we plan to do about it.

My own observation is that people are tired of being told what to do, and
what's going to happen. They want to figure it out for themselves - they
want to put their own spin on the Millennium, and a lot of them are smart,
and really don't want to be scared unnecessarily, or at all. That's not
too hard to understand, is it?

So give your daughter something to watch, a role model to see the problem
through, as you help an organization in you community that needs some
help with y2k, and get your own life's house in order (read Jim Lord's
articles at www.y2ktimebomb.com)

At the same time, you can let her see you getting serious
about your life, and not just worrying about whether or not she is serious
about hers - or at least as serious as you truly want her to be, because
you love her and are concerned for her. There are a number of wonderful
things you can engage in as you prepare for y2k, readying your own anchors
in your community. Let her make her own.

You can forward her some information about y2k, with much better result
than I could ever get. You know her strengths and her interests, so
perhaps you'll find some way to connect with her by researching y2k
impacts on some of the issues and organizations she values. This will give
her something to do about y2k, and in doing that she'll find out what she
needs to know.

It is not impossible to make this connection, and it's an incredible
opportunity to grow even closer, out of your concern for one another. You
have a lot more power in this situation than you think, and one step will
lead to the next. Just follow your gut and your heart.

Best to you,

Cynthia Beal <cabeal@efn.org>

From The Real Year 2000 Crisis by Michael Maynard.

....

The following lines were written in anticipation of the coming of the
Millennium -- the transition from year 999 to 1000: "... as love waxed cold
and iniquity abounded among mankind, perilous times were at hand for men's
souls. For by many assertions of the ancient fathers we are warned that, as
covetousness stalks abroad, the religious Rules or Orders of the past have
caught decay and corruption from that which should have raised them to growth
and progress.... From this (covetousness) also proceed the constant tumult of
quarrels at law, and frequent scandals arise, and the even tenor of the
different Orders is rent by their transgressions. What then can we think but
that the whole human race, root and branch, is sliding willingly down again
into the gulf of primeval chaos?" (Excerpted from Ralph Glaber, Miracles
de Saint-Benoit.)

One thousand years later, many of us approach the Second Millennium with the
same dread and confusion. We're terrified that our cars won't start, traffic
lights won't signal, bank machines won't dispense money, the power will be off
and our homes will be cold, the phones, fax, pagers, and cell phones will go
haywire, and computers will miscalculate the data accumulated about our
lives.

The only real difference between 999 and 1999 is the source of our fear. ....

I'm concerned that the tools we've created to bring us together are driving us
further apart since we no longer are required to meet in person to
communicate. I'm concerned that the world community created by
telecommunications has caused us to lose a sense of community in the world
closest by us. I'm concerned that an industry legacy based on the quality,
integrity and compassion imparted by Ken Olsen, Dr. An Wang, and other
industry founders has been replaced by a fool's gold rush to get rich quick
through IPOs (initial public offerings). And I'm concerned that the
visionaries who dreamed that computers would improve our lives have been
replaced by sociopaths who are using the technology as a means to gain more
and more control over our lives.

What does this have to do with Year 2000? This: Billions of dollars are being
spent to solve an industry-created, easily avoidable crisis that could have
been avoided if the current leaders in this industry had half the integrity of
the industry's founders. Billions of dollars are being spent that could be
better used to eradicate the hunger and the disease that plagued mankind in
the First Millennium and still exist today, despite all the technological
improvements we claim to have made.

This year, I've worked in the computer industry for one-half of my life.
I'm proud that some of the work I've done has helped my clients make
products that improved the quality of health care or helped them to make safer or
better products. But I would be less than honest if I said I thought the
industry has really improved the quality of our lives. IMNSHO,* I don't think those
who have the money and influence to shape the future of computers and
telecommunications even care. If they do, it is secondary to their
personal needs for power and fortune. And that makes me as frightened as our
ancestors were at the end of the First Millennium.

As we enter the Third Millennium, it seems we haven't learned a damned
thing in the past 1000 years. We're still worshipping false gods that will
only betray us in the end. We just have more technologically sophisticated
ways of doing so.


From Y2K Karuna (Compassion) by Karuna Thal

After ignoring the Y2K situation until last week, I am suddenly shifting my perspective into a sense of urgency and responsibility. Like when a person finds out they have cancer, we must go through stages. Yesterday a friend was at my house who had just heard some insiders' information on the plans the gov. is making for Honolulu -- expecting and preparing for the worst case scenario.

After he spoke of things, and he left, I felt his fear resonating in me. It was quite disconcerting. I would prefer not to have to deal with all of this. Yet I must.

As I sat in meditation this morning I realized a few things I'd like to share with you: