Hi everyone. I'm Josh, and this is The Emerald,

currents and trends through a mythic lens.

The podcast where we explore an ever-changing world and our lives in it through the

lens of myth, story, and imagination.

The Emerald. All that's happening on this green jewel in space.

Yeah. all that's happening on this green jewel in space. So a lot has happened since the last episode.

Many lives have changed.

Some lives have been lost. And our entire societal structure has shifted.

We're having to do something we rarely have to do, which is change, reorient our lives altogether,

and acknowledge a mutual moment we're passing through as a society and as humanity.

It's always good during such events to sit with the magnitude of it, to pause for a moment, to take a deep breath, and to be

present with it all. It's an easy time to feel anxiousness or panic. It's also an easy time to

tune out. I saw one meme that said,

first time in history we can save humanity by lying in front of the TV doing nothing. Let's not

screw this up. And that's the road that some will take. I'm sure the gaming industry will thrive.

Some will inevitably pass the time getting drunk. In New York anyway, they deemed liquor stores essential businesses and allowed them to remain open.

Some will turn their thoughts towards others, because even in the midst of a pandemic in which we're all meant to stay at home, there is, as always, a whole lot to do.

There are lives to save, emergency funding bills to pass, communities to organize.

All this is important. Some will pass the time thinking they're doing something when most of what

they're doing is obsessing. Some will stay busy just to stay busy, seeking out the latest stats and

figures and posting and commenting and reposting and retweeting. Some will deny it all,

seeing it as the elaborate plot of some hidden conspiratorial forces and shake their heads at

...