And we will never be normal again…

And that’s great!

A few weeks back the company Unilever decided it would scrub the word “normal” from its products. If you’ve never heard of Unilever, get up right now and go to your bathroom. Start looking at labels and the fine print and you’re bound to find a “Unilever” product in the way of soap, shampoo, deodorant, body spray, you name it.

This marketing decision is driven by a need to be more inclusive for people who may not see themselves as normal, or meeting the beauty ideals of where they live on the globe.

Now the cynic in all of us can dismiss this as marketing, but I am of the opinion this is actually a step in the right direction. Especially as we struggle to bring a global pandemic to a close.

We see the phrase “get us back to normal” or “the new normal” almost everywhere. Or my favorite, “normal” in quotes. As if the speaker or writer wants to believe in it, but knows they cannot.

As we all reside in the paradigm of time (at least most of us attempt to), there’s no going back to anything. Past is past. You can relive it in your head as much as you like. But in the end you pay the price of the present and the future to live there. You only live in the past in your mind. Never now. Now is now. So there’s no going back to a time and place.

And even if you could, you would react differently, as you carry with you the experiences of the past year. Layers upon layers of feelings, deductions, sights and conversations, words and news. These all calcify and shape you into who you are now. And if you have changed, then you will change the past and it will be something new as well. Thus this mind-bending exercise in grammar and time indicates there will never be a “back to normal” for any of us.

A new “normal”? Yes this is possible if you want it. But do we? We’ve just lived through a year of sickness. Death. Fear of other people and their breath. Fear of our institutions. Fear of what we’ve become. And screens and anger. We hid behind the screens, wandered down paths of escapism, narratives that match our beliefs, conspiracies, more anger, more fear, truths, half-truths and lies. This is the virtual world. And while we all believe our virtual path is righteous. Chances are…maybe it is…and maybe not. Our “normal” world right now, either onscreen or off, likely feels small, and “not normal” if you’re willing to admit it.

So where do we go from here? Wherever we go, it won’t fit the definition of the word normal. It no longer serves a purpose and it’s time to set it down. Perhaps we should seek less normalcy and face the world for what it is…warts, beauty and all. To see it and listen to it without judgment. To focus on being and listening to other beings. Perhaps we walk forward with a little more heart, more compassion and just let it be. And if the concept of normal fades away…can’t say I’ll miss it. Not even on my shampoo bottle.