Our Addiction to Chaos (Part 1)
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There’s a reason people fantasize about the world ending.
Not in the poetic what’s the meaning of life? way, but in the what if everything collapsed so I didn’t have to deal with any of this? way.
The zombie apocalypse. Economic collapse. Institutions crumbling. The fall of civilization. For some, these are hypothetical nightmares. For others, they are quiet fantasies. A way out. A reset button.
Because if the world ends, so do all the responsibilities that come with it. No more debt. No more work. No more taxes, relationships, expectations, or past mistakes to deal with. Survival becomes the only metric, and for many, that feels like relief.
It’s easy to mistake this kind of thinking for pragmatism. The people who talk about collapse, who stockpile resources, who believe the system is doomed—they often frame it as realism. They’re just paying attention. They’re just facing the facts.
But what if it’s not about that?
What if, for many, it’s not about fixing the world, but about hoping for its destruction because that’s easier than fixing themselves?
Because here’s something worth considering: If we were to take all of that energy—the craving for something new, something different, something real—and channel it into building the world we actually want, where would we be?
The answer is uncomfortable. Because we could have it all.
Not just survival. Not just destruction and rebuilding. But real, sustainable peace. True abundance. An entire existence built on the things we say we want—stability, freedom, community, meaning.
The only catch? It requires something harder to face than chaos. It requires responsibility.
Why We Choose Chaos Over Responsibility
It’s easy to point at the world and say, This is the problem.
It’s harder to look inward and realize, I am the problem.
Not in a guilt-ridden, self-loathing way, but in the sense that we are all co-creators of the reality we live in. The world reflects us back to ourselves. It shows us what we believe, what we tolerate, what we fear, and what we are willing to accept.
And if the world is chaotic, it’s because we are.
It’s no accident that people who always have toxic coworkers seem to find new jobs that feel exactly the same. That people who always feel betrayed by friends keep ending up in the same patterns of relationship. That people who say they want peace keep running back to conflict.
Because chaos is familiar.
More than that—it’s safe.
If life is always unstable, then we never have to sit with the truth of our own discomfort. We can keep pointing at the world and saying, That’s why I’m unhappy.
But what happens when the chaos stops?
What happens when your life is suddenly quiet—when your relationships are healthy, your finances stable, your home peaceful?
Where does the discomfort go?
For most people, the answer is nowhere. It was never about the job, or the people, or the government, or the world. It was about them. And when there’s nothing left to blame, when life is exactly as they said they wanted it to be, they are left with the hardest truth of all:
They don’t know how to be at peace.
And so, rather than sit in that silence, they find a new storm to chase.
The Real Choice: Destruction or Creation
Right now, we stand at a precipice.
Not just as individuals, but collectively. The way the world feels today—fractured, chaotic, divided—isn’t just happening to us. It’s happening because of us.
We create the world we live in.
If we don’t like what we see, we have two choices.
We can let it fall apart. We can wait for collapse. We can secretly hope for the world to crumble so we don’t have to take responsibility for our own circumstances. We can stay addicted to the chaos because it’s easier than growth.
Or—
We can take responsibility for our own lives, our own patterns, our own minds, and recognize that everything we think we want through destruction—freedom, peace, a fresh start—is something we could have right now if we stopped running and started creating.
We can have our cake and eat it too.
We can have material success and spiritual connection. We can have strong communities and personal freedom. We can have wealth, abundance, stability—without burning everything down first.
The only thing standing in the way is whether we’re willing to accept that we are the ones responsible for creating it.
Where Do We Go From Here?
We like to think chaos is something that happens to us. Something beyond our control.
But if that were true, why do we keep seeking it? Why do we keep choosing it?
If destruction weren’t familiar, if it didn’t give us something we secretly wanted, we wouldn’t keep repeating the pattern.
But what if there was another way?
What if we didn’t need to burn everything down to feel alive?
What if, instead of waiting for something or someone to show us the way forward, we started guiding ourselves?
Most people won’t choose responsibility. Not at first.
It’s easier to wait for the external world to change than to take ownership of your own.
But for those who are tired of waiting—for those who see the pattern, who recognize the truth—there is no reason to wait.
The moment you choose to take full responsibility for yourself, your thoughts, your words, your actions, and your world, you step into something entirely different. A reality that isn’t ruled by fear, or avoidance, or chaos, but by creation.
Because if we are the ones who create the destruction, we are also the ones who can create the alternative.
That choice is always ours.
And it always has been.
That’s where we’re going next.
Because the world isn’t missing order.
It’s missing guides.
And if we don’t have them, we must become them.
Read Part 2 – "Becoming Our Own Guide" here.
Take care,
Cam
The desire for destruction isn’t just about the world—it’s about escape. Escape from responsibility, from discomfort, from the weight of our own unexamined lives. But if chaos isn’t the answer, what is? The path forward isn’t in tearing everything down—it’s in creating something better. These reflections explore that shift:
Kensho – Seeing clearly is the first step toward change.
Life Is a Mirror – The world doesn’t happen to us; it reflects us back to ourselves.
Trust Yourself – The only way forward is to stop looking for certainty and start moving.
Be at Ease – The ability to meet life as it is determines how we experience it.
Growing Up – Real maturity isn’t about milestones; it’s about ownership.