“New Normal” seems to be the new catch phrase for 2020. It joins a long list of other COVID-19-related phrases from the past few months like “unprecedented” and “social distancing.”
But before you get too nervous about navigating your “new normal,” take a pause and think back to some other times in your life when something became a “new normal.”
I was forced to go through this exercise with my 12-year-old son. The phrase “new normal” was confusing him. Now, keep in mind he is an adolescent boy so 90% of what I say seems to confuse him. He kept asking questions like, “How is wearing a mask every time I walk in a store normal?” or, “How do I know if I am really six feet apart or just close enough?”
My answer typically begins with “Well, it’s not normal per se, it’s a ‘new normal,’” but then he always follows up with things like, “Well how long does a ‘new normal’ last?” and “If it goes on forever when does it stop being new?” I needed more. I needed a better understanding myself so I could help him feel more at ease and less anxious about all of the changes happening around us.
I started thinking about my childhood. Had I ever experienced a new normal? I must have, and then, it hit me: buckle up. Yes, “Buckle up. It’s the law.” I remember the time before buckling your seatbelt was the law. It was so freeing to just hop in the car and go. No dilly-dallying, dealing with an uneven strap, or waiting for it to click. It was easy, and then one day it changed. In reality, it was not just an overnight change. It took years to get all states on board and make this the law, but to a young kid it felt like one day you were feeling free and the next you were having to hear about all these adult issues. It’s similar to how many of us and our kids have felt over the past few weeks.
Buckling up was a universal change, a shift in how we thought about safety just as some of the new precautions being introduced because of COVID-19 are helping to reshape our thinking around health and safety.
“Buckle up” felt like an inconvenience in the beginning, it seemed to slow things down and give your parents more time to lecture or share details about the number of deaths that had occurred from people not wearing their seatbelts. It felt like another to do, and then it didn’t. It became a habit.
Today, many of us who experienced that shift as a child now get into our cars and just instinctively buckle our seatbelts. The same will happen with things like wearing a mask when you go in a store, sanitizing your hands before or after entering a public place, and having your temperature taken when you begin school or start working out at a gym.
History has a funny way of repeating itself, and if used correctly our experiences of the past can help us navigate the future. At first, these things will seem overwhelming, mainly because they are not routine yet, but with time and practice all of these things will start to feel more normal. So, buckle up and enjoy your new normal.
