"Normal"

Our perspective from within the Normal can't gauge well.

Normal is relative. We know this to be true. While I was in Mexico, a lot of things were out of my Normal. But I didn't want to go all tourist and snap pictures left and right. I realised: to the natives, this all was normal. After I came back from that trip, I gazed around in awe at the USA, what had once been normal to me. The friend who picked me up at the airport didn't see what I saw.

It's all relative.

If I'm a citizen of the 1930s, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is entirely abnormal and alarming. If, on the other hand, I live in modern day, I don't see it an entirely out of place. Because it isn't much different from reality. They say the frog who is dropped into hot water jumps back out. But the frog slowly boiled in water doesn't feel the heat.

Anything outside our Normal can be outside our comfort zone.

We can find comfort in the normalcy. But comfort can lead to complacency. Because of that, sometimes getting outside of our Normal is healthy. Retreats into the wilderness can be beneficial for some of us. But if you lived in the jungle, a trip to the city might be better. Retreat centres are good, but if you lived at a retreat camp, I don't think it would have it's full effect.

When I meet new people, I wonder how my interaction compares to their Normal. We expect what we are used to, and I like figuring out what others expect. Sometimes I oblige the expectation. Sometimes not.

Today I felt like I was in an apocalypse movie. Can you believe gas was at $2.51/gallon? That's not my expected Normal.