The world is made up of stories. An invisible web of agreements about what is “right” and “wrong”, what is “normal” and “weird”, and what is “possible” and “impossible”. These stories dictate how we behave as individuals, and as societies. And they can be hacked.

Behind every injustice and act of violence lies an (often unspoken) set of assumptions and beliefs about how the world works. And behind every victory for social change lies a person who dared to believe another world was possible. Our lives expand — or contract — depending on the stories we tell ourselves, and we get to choose which world we wish to inhabit by becoming conscious of which stories we want to share, amplify and embody each and every day.

Today, many of the old stories that people used to make sense of the world are falling apart. Fear, confusion and sorrow are widespread in the face of global pandemics.

We do not get to choose the moments we are born into, but we are able to choose how we respond. And as story-makers and culture-hackers, our words and our actions hold incredible power. They are the muscles of hope. We were made for these times.