2026-07-30

Normal Is What Normal Does

I saw graffiti on a crosswalk button pillar yesterday that said "Stupid is what stupid does." I wish I took a picture so I could ~attach it to my blog~. (Maybe I'll bike back over there just to get a pic.)

So, too, for normal. Normal is the collection of the everyday, the habits or non-habits that occur regularly enough to average out to any person's normal. Everyone is normal to themselves.

There is value in observing one's own normal, finding patterns, and identifying what they do or do not like about it, what they do or do not want to change.

Changes can be hard because our own normal becomes our identity - it's who we are, at this moment in time - but there is also value in the uphill battle to make inner change. The mountain doesn't go straight up forever, and we can find or carve a new valley to rest in if we put in the work to reach it, without giving up and rolling back down the hill. The new valley is a nicer, more contented version of you.

Intentional forays outside of our normal are where life happens. Seeking discomfort can lead to growth and learning and change that we never would have encountered in our normal world.

As the Seek Discomfort¹ channel description says, "...life's greatest moments and deepest connections exist outside your comfort zone."

I tend to cling to normal for dear life out of fear of the unknown. I fall victim to the idea that were I try to change, I would no longer be myself.

I don't know how yet, but I want to start changing that. I'm not having a great time being the same self all the time. I want to discover other versions of myself that I can only find outside of my comfort zone.

Hard work, self work, lies ahead.

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