When the Future Dies: The Here(After)

Abstract

Our futures are always dying and there are futures always being born. There is a liminal space in which we stand and experience both those deaths and births which send ripples through our multiplex systems. Drawing upon fields and tools such as thanatology, neuroscience, and trauma-informed care may allow us frameworks with which to manage not just how we think about the future but also how we feel about the future. There is a hallowed ground where the births and deaths of our futures exist and it takes both courage and creativity to stand there. As futurists, our job is often to sit bedside with others as they nurse and hospice their futures - both imagined and unimagined. Recognizing the skill needed to serve as container for individuals, systems, and the world requires something new from the field of Foresight and its practitioners. With the shocking, global loss from the Covid-19 pandemic, related individual micro-loss, the continuing climate decline partnered with increasing disruption, the world stands on the precipice of new understanding around grief and hope. Thoughtful consideration here allows us to better anticipate futures death and the transitional grief that often accompanies change.