By Laura Crandall
Why I am resistant to the term “The New Normal”
I have strong opinions about certain popular words and phrases. I feel about “learnings,” “journey,” and “it is what it is” the way many people feel about the word “moist:” each one makes me cringe in reflexive and somewhat recalcitrant ways (and I apologize to all of you who just freaked out a little when you read the word moist – twice).
Why this extreme reaction? Too often, these terms are used inaccurately, with an approach that reduces otherwise complex and meaningful experiences to offhanded comments that create misinformation and misunderstanding. This does not mean I want every person to elaborate on every phrase every single time they use it – I am against being bored to death by dependent clauses. Shorthand and idiom are great and can pack a lot of information into a sentence, but the tendency for complex and uncomfortable ideas to be oversimplified can drift into an emotionally deceptive way to avoid difficult subjects. We need to define our terms. This includes “The New Normal.”
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tsu
I recently taught an online class called, “Finding Your Balance in the Global New Normal.” I had a great time with wonderfully engaged students, and the feedback I got on the content was productive and positive. The thing I didn’t feel good about was the title. While using “New Normal” made it easy to allude to our collective experiences in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is something about the term that feels deceptive. I suspect it’s because it’s a label of redirection. It’s because when we say “New Normal” we mean “Dramatic Change.”
I understand the desire to label what we’re all experiencing as new and as normal – the other side of that coin is not all that pleasant to think about. “New Normal” can look and sound much nicer than “Dramatic Change.”
| New | Normal | Dramatic | Change |
| Different | How things are predicted to be | Sudden | Alter or become different |
| Fresh | Status quo | Striking | Transform |
| Adaptable | Usual Behavior | Intense | Moving away from a known to an unknown |
| Sounds like something cool to buy: New & Improved! | I line with a familiar standard | When things are dramatic they are emotional, emotions can feel scary | “All change is bad!” is a very human response to change; we prefer predictability |
| Subtext: Everything is upended, but just roll with it – it’ll be fine. This term speaks to our BEHAVIORS but dismisses our emotions. | Subtext: This is intense and unpredictable; as with all change, there is usually a way to work with it, but we’re going to improvise – a lot. This is likely too EMOTIONAL to be constructive in daily use. | ||
“The New Normal” is easier to say. It’s alliterative and rolls off the tongue. “A Dramatic Change” sounds like a bad sci-fi novel or like a haircut that’s gone horribly wrong. I get it, The New Normal is trying to calm our fears a bit – like when the flight attendant tells you that it’s just normal turbulence while they are going green with motion sickness. It makes sense; I just don’t like it.
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And why I don’t like it is that it is currently a lie. This is not normal. We are in the process of discovering, refining, and applying – at speed – the behavioral changes needed to be as physically safe as possible in a time with an ocean of variables that very smart scientists and public servants and healthcare experts are trying to analyze and understand so that our communities can function safely. And that is not normal. But that statement is unhelpful in that it’s too complex and intense. Perhaps we call this experience something that’s between the extremes of pacification and panic?
What terms could we combine to be both efficient and emotionally honest in describing this lime time we’re in.
| Between New and Dramatic | Between Normal and Change* |
| Emerging | Practice |
| Unfolding | Habit |
| Developing | Standard |
It’s not easy, and none of these roll off the tongue. Maybe we just call it some acronym like ESP: Emerging Standards and Practice (also, concurrently, Extrasensory Perception, which would be very handy right given the state of mystery that surrounds much of our collective day-to-day).
If we are using “The New Normal” to describe this time of chaotic uncertainty, skyrocketing unemployment, profound grief and loss, physical danger, and social and physical isolation; why in the name of anything anyone holds dear would we want THAT to be normal?
My hope is that the behaviors we use now will help us emerge safely into a time where we can decide what we want to be normal. And maybe some of what was normal before 2020 is worth reconsidering. This is new and it is dramatic. But if we are creative and diligent, unwavering in our courage, this time of crisis doesn’t have to be normal. It can be a time of change – with the promise of something better than normal up ahead.
*Yes, change IS normal… but let’s not fall down that rabbit hole today). Also, “Normal” and “Change” in this context speak to how we walk around in the world – to the basic actions of our lives
