The New Normal is a Myth

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The so-called New Normal is a myth. Frankly, normality in general is a myth. What is normal anyway? Even 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit body temperature which we regularly refer to as normal, isn’t a sure thing. In today’s socially connected world that allows us to expose intimate details about our lives, how can anything be considered normal? Referring to something as normal implies that everything else is abnormal.

The Oxford Dictionary defines normal as “conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.” I don’t know about you but from my perspective, nothing has been usual, typical, or expected in 2020. From the weather to animal behavior, to astronomical observations, normality is becoming increasingly elusive, so I suggest abandoning the concept entirely.

Routines Defines Our Normal

I prefer to think of the operational aspects of my life as a series of familiar routines rather than as normal. There are routines for how my day goes, how the seasons change, how society functions, and how life goes on day after day. I crack open an egg and I expect to see a single egg yolk. Once a while back, I cracked open a dozen eggs from the same package and found double yokes in all of them. My initial reaction was, “hmmm, that’s not normal”, but after a little research, I found that it wasn’t abnormal, it just wasn’t common. Now, some of you are going to accuse me of playing with semantics, and yes, the difference in terminology (as defined in the dictionary) is slight, however, the difference as a mindset is huge. Abnormality casts the target in a negative light. The chickens who laid the double yolk eggs weren’t abnormal, they were just young, and that I got so many double yolks in the same carton meant that the entire coop was likely young. Uncommon, yes — abnormal, no.

So, as we adjust to life during a pandemic and any of the new challenges we face, we shouldn’t be waiting to accept this as the “New Normal.” We should be simply changing our routines to address the new obstacles and restrictions. I don’t expect wearing a mask in public or not hugging people to ever feel normal – these aren’t practices that I grew up with and they make me uncomfortable, but they are now part of my daily routine and I can live with that. My life at the moment is what it is and I’m trying to make the best of it, find enjoyment where I can, be as effective at my roles as I can be, and accept that not everyone is like me. This approach doesn’t confine me within the definition of normal. It gives me the latitude to be more accepting of what goes on around me and less critical of what is unfamiliar or uncommon.

Freedom Requires Acceptance

If we are ever to achieve the individual freedoms that we aspire to, then we have to stop defining our version of life as normal and focus more on acceptance. Normality tries to drive uniformity, and as a species, humans are moving further from uniformity than towards it. Even, within our most niche organizations, members are rarely identical in beliefs and behaviors. These enduring differences are what make us interesting as individuals. Suppress the individuality and we all become slaves to being normal.

In the spirit of transparency, I should state the obvious that I’m not a student of philosophy, or psychology, or sociology, so these views are strictly my own thinking helping me to put my life in perspective. It’s easy for me to think of the things I believe in and stand for as being normal but that’s not fair to everyone else who subscribes to a different belief or practice. To bridge our divides, we must learn to be open, and that will help us find the commonalities from which we can build stronger relationships. How do you view your changing life? I’d love to know! Comment below.

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