The New Normal
by Daniel Baseggio
As we hit February running in the race of 2021, we have to stop and think….what race are we in…and what are we chasing?
After last month’s column on integrating meditation practices, it got me thinking…what is this “New Normal” I keep on hearing about…so…I decided to dive in….
The term Normal can be defined as, “Conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected”. Conforming is, “Complying with rules, standards, or laws”. If “Normal” is conforming to a standard…who’s standard are we complying to? These are the questions we are asking ourselves as we move forward in the direction of the future, but what has changed from the past to bring us to even question what Normal is…and how we can renew it!??
I want to take you all on a little journey through time. Let’s go back to NYE 2020. Finally, we had made it to the ‘future’; life has become easier with the advances of technology, smart phones, and communications. The world has never been smaller and more accessible, with international travel just a click of the phone away.
For me, a child of the 80’s, 2020 seemed like a lifetime away, something out of a futuristic Sci-Fi movie. Only in retrospect can we understand and evaluate the State of Normal we had come to accept as a collective…
Come to think of it, The State of Normal hasn’t really shifted much at all since the 80’s, it just got faster, more competitive, and began to split between the haves and the have nots…
Then everything stopped!
The whole world stopped!
At first we were all distracted by the going ons of the world! Glued to the news outlets, shutting down businesses, rearranging finances, stocking up on food and supplies and battling down the hatches! Then we grew tired of the monotony of panic and fear blasting out of our television sets.
So what now!?
Some turned to the deep web filling their minds with conspiracy after conspiracy, some dabbled, and some of the stories even held merit, but the conclusion was eventually set, that without any proof, they will always be exactly that! Just stories!
Others turned inwards and faced the realization that…wow…no longer do we have the perfect, continuing excuse of time, and never having enough of it for ourselves!
For the first time in a long time, the world was forced to be present! And face ourselves with unbridled honesty! Without judgment… without fear! And specially without society’s opinion!
This is when the “old normal” started to shift. We began to break the walls of the box that we had spent our whole lives creating in order to define ourselves. To be labeled, and categorized into “the social structure”, that we had come to accept, individually, and as a collective.
Let’s look at the past like it’s a story we already know the ending to, because it’s from the perspective of looking at it from the present moment. With all the unthinkable advances in technology and so many breakthroughs in science and quantum physics, how is it possible that we have maintained the same state of normalcy for over 30 years?
We have spent our whole lives searching for that one skill, that one career path, that one ideal lifestyle choice that defines us. How many times have you been asked the question…… “what do you do for a living”? This question has always grinded at my core, like nails on a chalk board; only now I understand why.
Because your answer to that question plucked you out of the present moment, and placed you into a social structure that measures your power and importance within that structure. No more! No more do we define ourselves as ONE thing! No longer do we feel the need to “fit in” to an ideal that we believe is expected of us.
For the first time in a long time, we are starting to choose ourselves, and believe that it is possible to identify as more than just one thing, I mean let’s face it, we have all been doing it for years now anyway…but behind closed doors!
It took a worldwide pandemic, to bring us back into the present moment! We are now living in the future and we are all multi-faceted beings of whatever we choose to be! If we feel the desire to learn a new skill or pursue a new creative endeavor…we can…even a brand new career path! We are living in a time that reinventing ourselves to fit our skill sets and lifestyle is part of this New Normal!
Remember, every master started somewhere, and in fact today’s instantaneous platform is set up to be able to pursue anything we put our mind and focus towards! With that said, the answer to the original question of “whose standards are we complying to” is that we are starting to take control over our own lives! With inner authority and an open heart, we are creating the standard of compliance for ourselves, with integrity at the core, intentional cause and effect being the drive and with consequences to our actions keeping us on track!
The new Normal is society coming into its own individual power and pivoting that power in a way that supports the collective and provides us with a service!
Conscious supply and demand is the New Normal! Simple and effective! With more than enough to go around and with society’s needs forever diversifying. We can now make the rules up for ourselves and finally thrive into the future and bask in the possibilities that this new Normal can continue to provide.
Do Right and Fear Not
Find Daniel Baseggio on Instagram @daniellouisbaseggio
