If you’re anything like me, you are so. tired. of hearing about “the new normal.”

Especially since this so-called “new normal” is anything but normal.  They want us to accept the bizarre-which-should-be-temporary and adopt it as normal.  Embrace it.

That isn’t healthy.

Now, I’m not necessarily saying no adjustments needed to be made.  I’m saying temporary adjustments should not be treated as permanent change.  We didn’t choose this “new normal”; it was forced on us.  The powers-that-be didn’t ask; they ordered and demanded.  And we are expected to just unquestioningly acquiesce to the permanent enforcement of temporary adaptations.

But what if we don’t?

What if, instead of mindlessly going along with whatever is imposed on us, as an obligation, we mindfully look for opportunities to move forward into a new normal of our own making?

Amid all the negative impacts the disruption of this past year has brought, there has been one notable silver lining: that very disruption holds the potential for positive change.

For the first time in decades, the status quo has been shaken.  The apple cart has been upset — and if we’re paying attention, we can help determine whether the apples get dumped back in just like they were before, or whether we reorganize them first…or even opt for pears.

I might be stretching this analogy a bit, but hopefully you’re still with me.

Who decided this is what the workplace looks like?  That everyone goes to the office roughly 9-5, five days a week?  Who decided this is how education is structured?  Who decided that patients have to come into the doctor’s office for everything?

These are just a few examples of patterns that have been interrupted over the past year that probably needed to be interrupted.  Don’t get me wrong; having millions of people out of work is not the kind of interruption I’d have hoped for.  Pediatricians refusing to see sick patients isn’t what I would have planned.  Shutting down the schools…well, okay, I’m not entirely sorry about that.

But these disruptions have opened up possibilities that most of society was unwilling to even consider before.  If we’re alert, and savvy, we can take advantage of these opportunities to ensure that as the world returns to normal, it’s a new, better normal.

We don’t want everyone to be unable to get into the office…but we might want more work-from-home (and other flex) options.

We don’t want to be banned from the doctor’s office…but we might want telemed options to be widely available for those occasions when an in-person visit isn’t really warranted.

We don’t want our kids’ education put on hold…but we might want more flexibility in how education works.

We’ve seen a return to a lifestyle that’s more centered around the home and, while that brings some pitfalls with it (especially when we’re universally stuck that way), overall it’s a good thing.  If we’re wise, we’ll work to hold onto as much of that as we feasibly can, and integrate it into our lives and culture moving forward.

I propose we take back the phrase “new normal.”

Let’s give “new normal” new meaning.  This bizarro world where we cover our faces, avoid people, hide out at home, and assume humans are all walking bioweapons is not the “new normal,” because it isn’t the anything normal.  There’s nothing “normal” about it.

I say we adopt “the new normal” as the phrase for what we want to see.  That we call for a truly new normal, where home & family are honored and valued, and services are expected to adjust to the people who need them rather than the other way around.

Anyone with me?  Here’s to the new normal.

[Tweet “Let’s give “new normal” new meaning: adopt “the new normal” as the phrase for what we want to see…call for a truly new normal, where home & family are valued and services are expected to adjust to the people who need them rather than the reverse.”]