Despite reassurances from astronomers and NASA announcements, Russians are in a panic. Worldwide, some 10 percent of people are genuinely frightened that the Mayan calendar predicts, come Dec. 21, life on Earth will come to a crashing, apocalyptic end.

 

The Maya, however, know their ancient calendar doesn’t predict an end to the world, any more than reaching the end of our calendar year does. Turning a western calendar page begins a new year; the Mayan “long counting” calendar simply means we’re entering a new era, another extended cycle.

 

As the solstice draws closer, what’s disturbing many traditional Maya are government prohibitions against holding ceremonies at pyramids and sacred sites that are also tourist magnets.

 

It’s easy to dismiss world-ending scenarios as a sort of shared hysteria, fueled by fears that somehow we have earned a cosmic comeuppance.

 

Yet, another way to see our collective future makes saying sayonara to the world as we know it an excellent idea.

 

Bolivian President Evo Morales, in a recent United Nations address, explained that while Dec. 21 marks the end of Macha and the beginning of the Pacha in the Mayan calendar, “It is the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood. It is the end of individualism and the beginning of collectivism,” a new cosmic era of community spirit.

 

Sounds like the right direction for an era warming Earth’s climate so rapidly that droughts, floods and superstorms like Hurricane Sandy and Typhoon Bopha, repeatedly battering the Philippines after claiming more than 600 lives, herald the new normal.

 

We’re entering a new era, said Morales, one that marks “the end of hatred and the beginning of love. The end of lies and the beginning of truth. It is the end of sadness and the beginning of joy. It is the end of division and the beginning of unity.”

 

This will mean the end of capitalism, egoism and divisiveness, and usher in an era of community, spirit and love, Bolivia’s Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca explained.

 

I’m all for a world where we can change corporate-controlled capitalism so unbalancing our resources that one family, the Walmart-owning Waltons, controls as much as 40 percent of the U.S. population, fueling an income disparity increasingly reflected in the rest of the world.

 

Seems like time to redirect our priorities, with steps like ending the $18 billion annual subsidies for oil companies’ assault on Mother Earth and abandoning expensive weapons of war to take dramatic strides toward peace.

Writing new chapters

The power of creating a new story for humanity is supported by modern science. We now know that “survival of the fittest” means the survival the most resilient and adaptable. In our heart of hearts, as well as in our DNA, we need to share and cooperate with each other, not compete. We are nurtured by love and flourish with acceptance. We learn best in positive settings, not punitive ones.

 

And we thrive when we experience nature directly. Seeing the moon and the stars, walking on Earth, touching trees and awakening all our senses are essential to our physical and spiritual well-being.

 

Dec. 21 could see the end of an anthropocentric­ civilization and the beginning of another civilization, one that implies a spiritual transition toward a new cosmic, biocentric conscience.

 

On the Olympic Peninsula, we’ve already taken a huge step toward restoring natural balance to an entire ecosystem by removing the Elwha dams, launching a pilot project to lead the way for others. Our organic farms are striving to keep GMOs out of our food supply and chemical toxins out of our fields. Expanding our partnership with Mother Nature will mean buildings that create energy rather consume it and protecting cities by restoring wetlands, rather than constructing seawalls or resorting to rip rap.

 

New stories for the future invite everyone to side with our capacity to change for the good of all. Imagine a world where the war against Mother Earth is over. Where carbon emissions are steadily dropping, stabilizing the climate, and successful industries take nothing and do no harm.

 

Let’s welcome the end of hatred and the beginning of love and imagine the power of all of us together making it so.
 
Diana Somerville writes about creating more sustainable communities and our personal connection with the environment. A Clallam County resident, she’s a member of the National Association of Science Writers, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and North Coast Writers. Reach her at www.DianaSomerville.com or email columnist@sequimgazette.com.