After over a year into this pandemic, one of the things that struck me is our view of what’s normal. In just one year, we’ve grown so accustomed to the safety protocols, social distancing, working from home, and other “new normal” things that it becomes a natural part of us and our daily lives. And the things that we usually did in the “old normal” now feel a bit strange: going on a ski trip, traveling with friends, sitting leisurely in a restaurant over a meal, seeing a person without a mask on at the grocery store, or neglecting COVID safety recommendations feels strange or uncomfortable. 
Our sense of what’s normal, our belief in what IS normal, is intriguingly ever-changing, and that’s okay. If you’re in an unconventional or intolerable situation, you either succumb to the despair or make do with what you’re dealt. 
As I’ve asked before: what is the cost of that?
After all of this, it’s not likely that we can go back to the old normal completely. In truth, things are always evolving, adapting, and changing; there is always a “new normal.”  What’s important is to look forward and ask yourself: What pieces of the old normal do you want to bring back? What pieces are you okay with letting go completely? What are your hopes in “future normal”?
Listen in as Dawn discusses the ever-changing faces and phases of normal.
Other podcast episodes referenced:  The dark underbelly of normalizing and Are you complacent?