Sometimes it's easy to forget that the world as we know it is simply a collection of intergalactic star dust rotating around the sun, in one of the billions of galaxies in this universe.

Humans have spent so long separating ourselves from nature and from each other. We've divided ourselves based on every imaginable difference and retreated to our enclaves to try and escape our many fears. These fears have been exploited for profit and for power by hucksters in various incarnations. These days, we are blasted with constant reminders of our mortality, our weakness and our duty to compete with one another.

However, this paradigm is dying, and not a second too soon. Around the globe, individuals are standing shoulder to shoulder as one, taking action and releasing their fear.

There are those who want us to believe that the end is nigh: That this coming together can't stop humanity's march to destruction, or that changing the status quo is itself "the apocalypse."

Apocalypse comes from the Greek word apokálypsis, meaning the "lifting of the veil," or "the disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception."

The word apocalypse triggers deep feelings and intense reactions, because it has been used for so long as a mechanism of control: the ultimate threat, or the great reckoning in which divine forces pass judgement on humanity.

Instead of divine intervention accompanied by rivers of blood and fire, perhaps this idea of "lifting of the veil" is better understood as the revelation of a fundamental choice: do we, as a species, embrace our potential for good by realigning our intentions and our actions to come together in solidarity, solve our problems and work to reverse the damage we've done to the planet? Or do we choose the path of exploitation, separation and destruction?

Making this choice clear is the duty of the storytellers - the independent journalists and writers who use their time to try and make this choice clear.

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