Cramming for the Apocalypse is an exploration of climate change, survival skills, and community.
Whether we like it or not, the climate is changing. And so many of the potential solutions feel out of our control. The sense of futility and grief can feel paralyzing. But watching in horror and worrying about our planet’s future and the future of every being on it isn’t going to do anything. So instead of throwing up our hands, let’s prepare. I reached that moment a few years ago realizing that sitting around worrying wasn’t going to help. At the same time, I also felt like I needed to better equip myself for the inevitable changes to come. And thus, Cramming for the Apocalypse was born.
Cramming for the Apocalypse is a project taking cues from the “prepper” community to build survival skills to prepare both mentally and physically for the climate apocalypse. However, this journey is not about becoming a stereotypical “prepper” focused on individualism and fear and gun hoarding, rather it’s a quest to find hope and move past my own climate grief by looking at preparedness through the lens of resiliency, collectivism, justice, and action.
Cramming for the Apocalypse is also not about accepting that doom is inevitable. Rather it is a quest to find hope and optimism in the face of crises and an act of transforming our society to be better and more just for all people and beings on this planet.
A bit about me, Elizabeth Doerr
I’m a writer, mother, and small business owner in Portland, Oregon. I write about issues of social justice, parenting, travel, resiliency, and climate change. I’m on a lifelong journey to integrate principles of antiracism into my personal and professional worlds and that shows up in my writing and the way I process the world.
My work has been published in a variety of publications including Parents.com, Bloomberg CityLab, Scalawag Magazine, Portland Monthly, and Baltimore City Paper.
I’m a heart-on-my-sleeves kind of person who needs community. I process what’s going on in the world through writing and that shows up in my weekly newsletters.
The end product of Cramming for the Apocalypse will be a book—years down the line. But I want the process to be as transformative as the final product.
You can read more about my work and see what I’m up to at www.elizabethdoerr.com and www.doerrandco.com.
Subscribe to the Community!
I want this Substack newsletter not to just be me shouting into the void, rather I want it to be a collective dialogue about the state of our future and a discussion about how we can take action. I want to hear your ideas and thoughts and suggestions for my own quest. I want to hear about your journeys and your inspirations.
To subscribe to Cramming for the Apocalypse is to become a part of a community of people who are preparing for the future and actively looking to take climate action in their own personal ways. I invite you to comment and like and engage in conversation often!
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Weekly newsletter articles drop each Tuesday. There will be occasional non-Tuesday updates about the book club and other such updates which will also be on Notes.
