Normal

by Stella De Genova

Life is all about what we’re used to. We give it the title of “normalcy.”  My normal day is probably very different from yours.  What is normal to one person can be absurdly abnormal to another.  So what is normal and should we be too concerned about it?

The definition of normal in the dictionary is: 1. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural. 2. serving to establish a standard. 3. In Psychology. A. approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment. B. free from any mental disorder; sane.

Well OK, I’m pretty certain I would like to be thought of as “sane” but “usual” and “regular?” That doesn’t sound like much fun!  Even if you look at your own life, what’s normal never stays the same.  What was normal then may not be normal now.  For instance, when you lose a loved one or even a pet, life can’t get much more abnormal than that.  But people will tell you that in time, you will get back to some sort of normalcy in your life.  So, normalcy can be very different than you ever knew it to be.

And what about many of the readers of this blog who are blind? Our normal is about as far away from what a sighted person may consider to be normal.  Does that make us abnormal or just different?  Remember when you were a kid and teachers and parents told you to “dare to be different?”  Honestly, I can’t compare what I do to someone else that is so different because it’s not different to me at all.  True, I have to use a color detector and I listen to a good book instead of read it.  I can’t just zoom off in my own car to pick up some groceries and I don’t even work the job I was used to working for almost 18 years.  But what I do every day now is my routine and I still take care of my home and family.  I accept the challenge to find new ways to be creative and creative ways to do things in a new way.  As it turns out, my normal works just fine for me and that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it?