Mournin' Normal
Nearly three months ago our cherished friend and loving partner, Normal, was taken captive by “enemy forces”.
We were told that the chances of survival were low to none—and that we should prepare ourselves for the worst.
This was the very nightmare we did everything in our power to never dream, until we had no choice.
We dreamed that nightmare, not because we wanted to, but because we had to...
and prepared as we were told to, in the exact way we were told to do, while our home town hero’s mobilized to go to war.
Night became day.
Day became night.
No where to go, but here.
Sleepless nights.
Halfhearted days.
Our hearts broke.
Actions had to be taken.
Shock
Doubt and disbelief
Fear and worry
Anger
Sadness
Grief and sorrow
The entire spectrum of feeling and emotion.
Support came in all directions...mostly free, while some cost us what we could pay.
We rode the waves and adjusted, as best as we had capacity to.
Eventually, the cooling balm of relief.
We acclimated, we adjusted, we healed—and made room for a new normal.
We emptied the closets of clothes that no longer had a use, burned old love letters, donated formerly cherished items, cleaned the cupboards of snacks not for us.
Cleansed and cleared, tidied and touched up spaces that hadn’t been touched in years.
We made room—and that space felt better than we could have ever imagined!
Shimmers and sparkles in the morning light.
Bright and shiny altar items.
Seeds were planted.
Blossoms and butterflies, as spring welcomed us with her gentle purifying rains.
Sprouts and shoots reaching for the heavens.
Fresh, clean, and sweet smelling new life.
...
Then something happened.
Something we were made to believe we had little to no reason to expect.
The odds were beat.
They’re calling it “the miracle of 2020”
Normal returned to life yesterday.
Extracted from behind enemy lines by an elite special forces unit.
Normal looks a bit different—puffy and wrinkly—though mostly the same...
That is until you catch normal gazing off, while waiting in line at the grocery...
you follow those gazing eyes, but all you see is a blank white wall.
“What are you looking at babe?”
“Me? ...oh nothing”
Those eyes, they’re both empty and full; of what once was, but is no more.
Mournin' Normal...
“Mournin' babe...what's for breakfast”, says Normal
But there’s nothing normal about the seemingly normal question.
You hear the lifeless words, spoken in a drone tone, echoing for eternity in the empty spaces normal once occupied.
You wonder to yourself, “is this normal...? ...or a clone of normal?”
Normal looks the same, smells the same, washes the dishes the same, kisses the same, walks the dog right on time, every time, yet something is different
...you just can’t put your finger on it.
You sit up at night, staring at your computer screen...an inbox full of bills to pay, messages to respond to....
you hit that joint, smoke that cig, take a sip of that wine and wonder, “what the fuck is real...what is imagined? Is this my life? Is this really normal?”
Then you snap back, realizing you were thinking those thoughts again...
And so you return to the things that need to get done. The things that are actually worth your precious attention.
...
For others, normal returned today.
Normal is what normal was—and that’s that.
...
For some, normal will return to life tomorrow....or the day after tomorrow...or once...you know...the government does that thing they said they’re going to do.
They just know normal will return—and until then they pray and ask you to pray with them.
...
For others...
normal is confirmed dead...lost during an allegedly covert rescue operation, as reported by various global news outlets.
For some that news arrived the very day normal was taken hostage and for others sometime between then and today.
For some, normal was confirmed dead long before it went missing.
...
For some everything has changed—and nothing is different.
For some everything has changed—and everything is different.
For some nothing has changed—and everything is different.
For some, some things have changed—and some things are different.
For some nothing has changed—and nothing is different.
For some, life is as it was.
For others, life can never be what it was.
For others,
Life.
Is.
....
Together let us honor our beloved normal for the role it played—and for some—continues to play in this life.
So much love to you dear normal, for who and what you were—and forever are ❤️
What’s your favorite memory of normal?
🔥 Share in the comments below 🔥