Please Define Normal

Please define "normal" . . . is it as fleeting and idealistically mediocre as the mythical "stable"? 

“Normal” as we know it~~as it is used in our modern day vocabulary is a word that is relative to time and space.  “Normal” is and always will be in a constant state of change.  Today's “normal” is not defined the same way it was fifty years ago, and “normal” will be defined differently ten years from now. 

Let’s consider the origin of the word “normal”~~I know, I know . . . you can take the girl out of teaching but you can never take the ole English teacher out of the girl~~please humor me . . .

“Normal” is derived from the two Latin words~~ “normalis” and “norma”.  “Normalis” was defined as a Carpenter’s right angle~~90 degrees.  Now if you remember your Geometry you know that it is based on theorems, postulates, and properties~~and everything requires proof.  A right angle measures 90 degrees.  All right angles are congruent which means all right angles have the exact same measure~~all right angles measure 90 degrees~~ Period.  A right angle during the time of Euclid and Pythagoras is 

 a right angle today and it will be a right angle in 2050.

“

Norma” was defined as a pattern.  Patterns are based on repetition and periodicity.  A single cell, an event, an object is combined with duplicates of itself which are exact~~no changes or modifications.  A pattern is a reliable sample of traits, acts, tendencies, or other observable characteristics of a person, group, or institution that is constant~~like a right angle~~it is exact~~Period.

So how do you define “normal”?  Are all “normal” people exact duplicates of each other?  What specific traits, acts, tendencies, or characteristics do ALL “normal” people have that a Beeper doesn’t have?   

Language is transformational~~vocabulary is transformational.  We can change the structure or the meaning by inserting or deleting or changing one element in the pattern and we have created something entirely different.

“Normal” no longer means exact~~it no longer means pattern.  Our modern definition of “normal” is constantly changing~~”normal” is dependent upon how society sees itself.  “Normal” is most accurately defined as whatever is current at any given time and whatever is current is constantly changing . . . fashion, belief systems, laws.

People are continuously striving to define themselves . . . they are constantly on the lookout for the new trend or model in our society that defines how they act, the choices they make, their appearance, what is ethical, what is taboo~~what is considered “normal” in their everyday lives.  The majority of society~~at the very least the general population adheres to these ever-changing rules because there is an innate desire in all of us to be accepted~~to be normal~~whatever “normal” is.

I can’t define “normal” by modern standards~~the best that I can speculate is that “normal” is fleeting, mediocre or even some mythical alternate dimension in our universe . . . after all “stable” is derived from the Latin “stabulum”~~in its noun form meaning a building or shelter for animals~~in its verb form meaning to put or keep in a stable~~in its adjective form meaning firmly established to resist forces causing motion~~now that definition of stable seems far too similar to the definition of stagnant~~not moving, motionless, foul odor. 

I will pass on being normal and on being stable~~I don’t think either one would be healthy for me.

On the other hand, I am interested in learning to run interference with Bipolar disorder so I can consistently rely on my cognitive and emotional acuity to just be me.

My students used to tell me that I wasn’t fair~~I didn’t treat all of them exactly the same, and they were right.  Usually the complaints came from those students who needed and got a lot more of my attention than they wanted.

I regularly reminded my students that I could give all of them exactly the same thing or treat all of them exactly the same, and I wouldn’t be fair~~I wouldn’t be treating them justly.  Fair isn’t about getting what everyone else gets; fair is about getting what you need. 

I don’t want to be anyone else; I don’t want the same measure of cognitive or emotional acuity that anyone else has.  I just want what I need to be me~~to be a fully functioning Tracey.

We don’t do ourselves any favors by desiring to be “normal” or to be “stable”.  There are no definitive characteristics for either word  . . . we spend so much time grieving the loss of what?  We can put the words~~”normal” or “stable”~~in front of any role that we can play, in front of any occupation that we may pursue, in front of any experience we might have . . . but what does it mean?

There is not another living creature who has ever walked the face of this earth or who will ever walk the face of this earth who can be me.  

However, we can define ourselves . . . we all have specific characteristics, specific abilities, specific tendencies~~independent of the challenges we face or the needs in our lives that are common characteristics of Bipolar disorder~~which defines who we are as individuals.      

Being who I am . . . is a goal I can accomplish . . . being what others can’t even define~~”NORMAL”~~is not only pointless~~it is absolutely, unequivocally  IMPOSSIBLE.