Most of us are very aware of the shaky ground that the publishing industry now stands on. But shaky ground means earthquakes, and earthquakes means shifting tectonic plates (check out that 7th grade science fact) and shifting tectonic plates means - something new.
New earth! We're not living in Pangaea anymore, my friends. And hey... that was a good thing that happened, right? Breaking apart a supercontinent meant that the homogenous land mass divided people (that sounds familiar...) but it also created diversity, gave us new cultures, and opened up pathways for the development of things like the wheel and fire, which proved quite useful.
And at the time, it was probably freaky as hell. Shockwaves, volcanoes, goats falling over, seas rushing in... in fact, I bet it felt kinda like the end of the world, when really it was part of a new beginning.
I fully admit to the digital age scaring the crap out of me in terms of how the publishing industry will evolve. I always pictured shiny stacks of my books, not new downloads. I like to hold a book in my hands and see the right hand side of pages getting smaller as I go, not watch the number in the right hand corner getting bigger.
But then I think about those goats falling over and the seas rushing in... and there are still goats around today. Not the same goats, but goats nonetheless.
Footnote - I fully realize that Pangaea breaking up wasn't directly responsible for the wheel and fire. Just clarifying.