Is it just me, or is life getting more difficult and challenging for everyone? I have heard that this is called the "time of intensity." Is this true, and if so, what does that really mean?

These are very interesting times indeed! You are on the cusp of a "new age," a term that you have most likely heard so many times that its meaning and effect has been significantly reduced. The New Age is much more than a popular term or a movement, however. It is an important time of renewal for the planet and everything on and within it.