This is a difficult time—and just as our ancestors have experienced famine, war and disease, and other traumas, this is our ordeal that we are experiencing together.

I don't talk much about coronavirus. There's so much chat and speculation—what I know is that people and families are struggling, to say the least.

Just as in every classic hero's journey, in mythology, and films and stories, this is our ordeal. Our road of trials.

And, just like in our film and movies and stories, our lives also take an arc, they have chapters, and themes that run through our life.

These themes, ordeals and challenges—they can be hard. This is part of the human experience. It comes with being a human.

But it is these ordeals and challenges that expand us into a better version of ourselves, that help us evolve into a better species—it changes our biology…

See these top tips for fact-checking:

Check for previous work: Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research.
Go “upstream” to the source of the claim. Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information.
Read laterally: Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network.
Circle back: If you get lost, hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole, back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.

Based on the Central Coast, north OF Sydney, Australia—working online worldwide.