See also this, this, this, and this.

The How We Die post has opened up such a depth of feeling, puncturing a massive artery in the collective unconscious that pulses with meaning, agony, exaltation, completion, horror — all the emotional extremes of which we humans are capable. The stories, which now arrive every few minutes, throb with the kind of intensity and heartfelt vulnerability that render nonsensical the idea that we are just about to turn into robots. We are not robots. We have never been robots. And we never will be robots.

I confess: my specialty is stimulating what I call homeopathic effects in the culture. Potent, but invisible. I feel utterly uncomfortable and out of my league with what may be a mass movement igniting here in the comments section of the exopermaculture blog. Out of my element, and freaked, frankly.

This morning I called a dear, wise friend and discussed all this, especially my feeling of overwhelm and not knowing what to “do.” After only a few minutes discussion, we brought up the idea of him as a partner. He would be the one to “approve” each new comment, and possibly, guide what might come next. If so, he would be the perfect person and a wonderful companion on this journey to help deepen our responsiveness to the exigencies of living and dying.

He and I will talk again tomorrow morning.

Here’s where we are now, as of 11:18 A.M. on January 25, seven days after the original post went up, on January 19th. As you can see, the views are more than doubling daily, and currently arriving at the rate of about 18,000 per hour.