Jessica, I love your writing even if some of it cuts close to home (I’m uncomfortably unsure if I fall into the “self-help” guru writers you talk about). I think you’re right about the collapse, and your documentation of it in real-time is kind of surreal.
The question it brings to my mind is “Whelp. We’re screwed. What should we do now?” In my case I’ve taken a job helping to provide direct services to our community - a nonprofit that I am sure has at least SOME positive effect. Like you, I’m trying to prepare for the shortages - water, food, etc (and no, that doesn’t mean a victory garden, those don’t work so well in Wisconsin). And focusing on my family, friends, loved ones, and immediate community.
Do you see any way past this? I think about Octavia Butler’s “Parable” duology, which is eerily prescient to the times we live in. It had a happy ending…but a whole lot of unhappy along the way. I wonder how to prepare my grandsons and granddaughter for the world they’re growing into. I’d love to know how you and your family deal with the realities you write about.