Back in April, I noticed some people were starting to use the words “new normal” in regard to stay at home orders, social distancing, and this whole big pandemic reality. It was an experience like having the rug pulled out from under us all, yet I resisted the phrase new normal. New normal is a phrase I’d become acquainted with while recovering from cancer treatments. I understood exactly what a “new normal” was after having my body altered in significant ways by the various treatments. Those were permanent changes that one had to adapt to and accept as an ongoing part of the rest of their life. It was truly a new normal in such a way that no “old normal” was expected to be returned to.

I couldn’t put the word normal anywhere close to this pandemic back in the Spring because my whole body wanted to say, “No! Temporary!!” However, at this juncture, some five months later, as I nonchalantly pull my mask over my face to manage the weekly shopping, I have to admit there is something about it that has come to feel “normal.” It will not always be this way, yet I’ve been observing there is a level of internal freedom that comes with accepting it just the way it is now, as our “present normal.” Present normal feels like the right phrase to me. It is how it is right now. We can be with that with care-full listening, understanding and acceptance. Better yet, “present normal” has a beauty we can carry forward; we can apply this phrase at any point in our lives no matter what we’re going through.

I wonder, how has it been for you creating a “present normal“ in these difficult times?

I’d love to hear from you.