No Normal. Be Nimble

As we grow accustomed to distancing ourselves from colleagues, friends and even family; as we wash our hands more in the hopes of fighting an unseen, difficult-to-understand foe; as we retreat to the base needs of food and shelter and how to have a sense of security and comfort in our individual plights we long for something called normal.

The idea of normal is, at its core, a sense of comfort, reliability and trust. Comfort in our social, emotional and economic place in the world. It comes from being able to rely on and trust the things we have dreamed about, worked to achieve and voted for are worth the effort and won’t let us down.

When normal is torn asunder, we retreat to the basics; some of us live with those basic needs everyday, some of us take them for granted and now have to call upon parts of our selves that we have not needed for a long time or perhaps ever. This is what drives panic buying and hoarding at the beginning of a crisis. 

After the initial shock of radical change, we settle into new behaviors and routines. We figure out how to live in close quarters around the clock with our families. We figure out how to cope with having little to no contact with others. We seek connection online. We figure out how exactly to get a video conference started on time. We figure out that starting a meeting 15-minutes late is ok.

Normal is an Illusion

The truth is, there is no normal. There may never have been.  It surely is not permanent. We create constructs that help us organize our worlds and meet the wants and needs of our work, our colleagues, families, friends and ourselves. We learn the ethereal nature of our normal when it is disrupted.  And, if we are paying attention, we learn what is most important and reliable, and how to carry that forward to the next challenge.

There is power and liberation in the creation of new constructs—new routines, new values, new meaning. If we let go of the notion that we need to “get back” to some sort of normal, we break a loop of backward thinking. There is great stress in trying to maintain something that may no longer be viable or sustainable. 

We have an opportunity to examine and define what is worth fighting to maintain and what can be left behind. 

Be Nimble

Perhaps a bigger truth is, we are nimble. We adapt. 

There is greater power is embracing our ability to change and grow than our ability to redo what we already know; to return to what is comfortable. It is our natural tendency to seek comfort and familiarity, but now many of us are forced to consider a future that looks very different than what we expected, relied on, trusted.

We need to trust and rely on our ability to be ready for change. We need to keep our minds open to different possibilities and new ways to respond to challenges. Being nimble means tapping into our creativity and that of those around us; taking what we know works and being open to alternative ways to get to where we want and need to be.

The fact is, we are moving forward. There is nothing one of us or all of us can do about it. It may seem like steps backward, but regardless of how we each interpret what is happening, we have the opportunity to pay attention, to learn, to act decisively and craft a new nimble future.