Things are not "normal", and yet we expect them to be? Exploring the human desire for normalcy.

Few people living today were alive during our last pandemic. Millions of people in the US & around our planet have tested positive for the virus. With the masses who are diagnosed, we are yet to truly understand the virus. We are still learning. We do not have a treatment or a vaccine, have record job loss and devastation to our economy exacerbated by the virus’ impact, and Oh! We are still uncertain if we are in the beginning…middle…or if we are close to end of the virus in our world? (most doubt we will ever be “rid” of the virus, but rather learn to live with it….)

And that…is just the pandemic!

We also have a rise in racist acts/vocalization of racist belief systems, instability in our political system and those who “govern”, and a dramatic increase in suicide and suicide ideation in our world.. Above mentioned issues/concern/etc are just scratching the surface of what is our current state of affairs, and yet…there is this very real human desire to want everything to appear normal despite it being anything but normal currently.

I am reminded of the scene from the Titanic, where the ship CLEARLY is sinking and the musicians are playing on the lido deck as if all is normal….I wonder if they were silently thinking WTF?

Wanting normalcy, despite the or because of the chaos around us is NORMAL. The desire. The longing. The wish. All normal. Wanting hugs. Wanting to celebrate in grand ways milestones and events. Working out in gyms. Eating meals in crowded restaurants or bars or with a sea of friends/relatives crammed into a ridiculously small space. Dating. Theater. Concerts. Sporting events. Church. Getting hair/nails done. Getting a tattoo. Shopping. All of these are normal for all or part of our community, and yet each and every one of them has changed in 2020. We all know this. We all see this. We all feel this. And yet, as humans, we cling for something that resembles normalcy to calm our anxiety, settle or fears, and inspire hope for us that this one day will be a horrible, awful memory……

While I cannot tell anyone when it will be part of our history, or if that will ever happen…what I can offer is this. What if instead of asking:

Why is this happening to us?

We asked

What are we to learn from this crisis?

What if we looked at this more from a perspective of how can we learn to be kinder to one another? We looked out more for our family and friends? What if we learned to slow our lives down a bit, and took time to truly cultivate relationships on a deeper level? What if we learned to embrace this new normal vs fighting against it? What if we learned to take our health more seriously and decreased habits that contributed to underlying preventable illnesses? What if we learned to embrace the stillness more?

I want normalcy but realizing the more I long for normal the more it seems like an abstract unattainable concept vs a reality. It’s an illusion. It never was or will be. We can fight it or accept that this IS the time and space we are living….

Do you want this to be a time of absolute devastation, or a time of reflection?

Wishing you peace in your journey…and remember to click subscribe so you don’t miss out on future posts!