I'm still here - the Mayan apocalypse non-event

So after much hoopla and apocalyptic predictions, I'm still here. I'll go out on a limb here and assume that people reading this are also still in the land of the living. Now that we've established we survived the Mayan 'Long Count' Calendar, what led up to this belief?

According to Wikipedia, "this date was regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar."

"Now that you've brought it up, what in the world is the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar of which you speak, Eleanor?"

Again, and according to Wikipedia, "The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, bigesimal (base-20) and base-18 calendar used by several Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably, Mayan. Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar."

Furthermore:

the calendar begins in year corresponding to 3114BC

Moves forward in 394-year periods known as Baktuns

Winter solstice in 2012 marks end of the 13th Baktun

Myth of end of the world based on erroneous reading of Mayan tablet carved 1,300 years ago

Archaeologists and Maya experts say text refers to start of a new era

Thank you Wikipedia for your informative background.

To be candid, didn't really give much thought to how to spend the day in 'case-of.' I mean, how does one prepare for an apocalypse, anyway?

Most likely I would have had my usual breakfast of toast and bumbleberry preserves and tea. Somehow, a cup of tea always seems to hit the spot during times of turmoil and an apocalypse would definitely fall into this category. Maybe given the nature of this precursor of doom, perhaps a bowl of cereal would have been in order. My diet most likely would have been forgotten under the circumstances.

Thinking further (again), what would be the correct thing to wear for an apocalypse, anyway? Would casual wear be acceptable or perhaps a more formal look would be proper. Choosing the right accessories would present a problem. Should one wear elbow evening gloves or would that be a fashion faux-pas? What about a/the hat bought in the event that an invitation to the royal nuptials came in the mail, which it didn't?  Is it or would it be proper to wear in a doomsday event, instead? Would the royal family care? Would anybody care? The problem is there is no apocalyptic guide to help make these choices easier.

If I had thought about it, which I didn't because it slipped my mind somehow, perhaps the construction of an ark would have been in order. Not that anybody asked me to but one does feel some responsbility for the animals of the planet. Then again, having never had any experience in ark building or any type of construction would have made this difficult. However, should it have been feasible, there would have been the dilemma of whether or not bringing along some species that included snakes, alligators or lions and the like. Snakes do not rate high on my "favorite animal" list. Just can't envision myself rounding up, say...pairs of pythons or cobras or crocodiles.

It wasn't until mid-to-late afternoon that it occurred to me after checking in CNN, Twitter, Facebook and other on-line sources that I, along with the rest of the world, had survived an/the apocalypse. So all the issues of fashion choices, survival equipment has been put on the back burner. At least for now or until another doomsday soothsayer(s) (say that fast after a few drinks) dictates otherwise, at which point I'll sit down and have a cup of tea.

Hands up who thinks the world is coming to an end - hands up those who don't

One thing for sure, it's definitely easier to believe that the world will not come to an end. I'm in that category although not all the time depdending on the latest world events. The controversy surrounding the Mayan calendar and its sudden and abrupt end leads some believers to assume the end of the world is nigh. So it's not surprising that another new poll reveals that 15% of people worldwide believe the world will end in their lifetime. Another 10% are convinced that the Mayan calendar indicates it could occur in 2012.

The beliefs are varied depending on the geographical location. The Ipsos Global Public Affairs conducted the poll for Reuters and asked 16,262 people in 20 countries their opinion on their beliefs. Only 6% of French residents believe that their time on planet earth is nigh (love that word "nigh" - so Shakespeare) compared to 22% of in Turkey. This leads one - me - to believe that the French being who they are, refuse to entertain such an idea. Maybe it's the amount of delicious and inexpensive wine they drink or perhaps they're too busy involved in creating those scrumptious patisseries, or turning out those gorgeous fashions. ("What does that have to do with anything, Eleanor?" Nothing really but I was just thinking...) But I digress.

Meanwhile, getting back to the statistics, 22% of Turks are believers as are U.S. residents, with slightly fewer in South Africa and Argentina. A mere 7% of Belgium residents are world-end-believers and 8% of Brits. Thinking further, perhaps it's due to the Brits staunch character makeup and personna that would lead them to question the concept and dismiss it as heresay. But I digress.

So where were we...furthermore, approximately one in ten people around the world answered that they were apprehensive regarding the concept of planet earth's demise in 2012. The largest numbers are in Russia and Poland.

The Ipsos poll questioned people in China, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Argentina, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Great Britain, Indonesia, Germany.

So what does this all mean in the big picture, you might be asking yourselves. Is the Mayan calendar right? Go know! I'm of the belief that polls take the pulse of people at a particular time. Their answers depend on their state of mind at that moment.  If and when the world does come to an end, whenever, there's nothing much we average humans can do about it. When it's all said and written, perhaps we should live each day as if it was our last and take in everything our world has to offer.

"The mountains, rivers, earth, grasses trees and forests, are always emanating a subtle, precious light, day and night, always emanating a subtle, precious sound, demonstrating and expounding to all people the unsurpassed, ultimate truth." (author unknown)