Surrender to the New Normal

 Just like you, I wasn't looking for a new normal this year. We had plans. We had ideas. We had intentions. And then the whole world was put on hold thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. So we stayed home, turned stuck at home into fun at home with our kids, and waited for things to go back to normal. But now, a few weeks into shelter-in-place orders and mandatory quarantines, the delays are getting longer, the idea of returning to anything the way it used to be is fading, and we're face to face with a new normal.

School is different.

Work is different.

Big family dreams are different.

Even getting groceries isn't quite the same.

And yet, we're all still waiting too. Waiting to hear good news. Waiting for the pandemic to end. Waiting for something else to begin.

Every evening after dinner when our boys head off to enjoy their screen time, my hubby and I pull up the news and talk about what life looks like across the world right now thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. "You know the world isn't going to be the same after this," he says almost every night.

He has to say this because he knows I'm trying to pretend that life will just magically go back to the way it was. I'm still counting on getting to the bookstore just as soon as it opens, hopping into a coffee shop whenever I want, and taking the kids on a few epic hikes in our favorite national park in just a few weeks. But his words leave me feeling heavy, sad for everyone who is suffering, uncertain about our own family's plans, and grieving over something, but I'm not sure quite what just yet. At first, I thought he was exaggerating, but now I'm starting to see the writing on the wall. Things have definitely shifted, and we're all finding our new normal.

It reminds me of the way I felt a few other times in my life when my whole world shifted, like when my parents dropped me off at college that first year, the first morning I woke up as a married woman, the first night I had a crying baby to care for, and the first week my mom wasn't able to call me on the phone anymore.

When things change like this, there's no way to go back to the way things were before, but there is a way to go forward. And right now, our families need us to go forward.  

They need us to lean in, listen, and love. They need us to slow down, reassess, and gain perspective. They need us to prioritize mental health, shut down our devices, and be there. They need us to do what we do best when life throws a curveball - show up as our true selves. And just like every time our world shifts a little bit, we have two choices: We can keep longing after the way things were or we can surrender to the new normal and find a way forward.

Since you're here, I know you're right there with me finding a way forward.

I'm confident that businesses, restaurants, and companies will open again, grocery stores will feel safer again, family vacations will be on the schedule again. But I'm also confident that some things won't ever be the same.

We're all a little bit different now. 

We're more careful.

We're more grateful.

We're more aware.

And we see the world differently too.

The other day, I read a post by one of my writer friends where she shared this quote: "In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to." (Dave Hollis), and it made me realize how many things I needed to delete from my to-do list, remove from my schedule, and take back to the drawing board altogether. It's amazing how priorities can shift when our perspective changes. And if we're going to keep going after deep connection at home and giving our children the kind of childhood dreams are made of, we've got to be willing to shift our perspectives, change our priorities, and surrender to our new normal.

Our kids are stressed too.

They're uncertain, unsure of what this all means.

They're looking to us to make sense of it for them.

And as they see us settling into our new normal, finding our gratitude groove, and adjusting well, they'll know they can adjust too.

And that's a huge win for family togetherness.

But that doesn't mean we aren't dreaming and hoping for bigger, brighter days to come too, right? (More on that next week.)

This weekend, I hope your home is filled with all sorts of new normal goodness like shutting the rest of the world away and snuggling up with your favorite people on the couch, playing a board game or two, or baking something special to celebrate Easter on Sunday morning. Our crew is still waiting things out in North Carolina for just a couple more weeks until we're able to move back into our Airstream in Maine, and since trails are closed around here, we're finding all sorts of new hobbies to enjoy at home like watercolor nature journaling, knife-making, woodburning, breadmaking, and one other little thing called book writing. (Remember that book I told you about a few weeks ago? I've shifted priorities around it big-time, and I'm working with a publisher to have a real-life, beautiful, good-smelling paper book in your hands this summer! More on that soon!)

Above all else this week, I hope you know that you are not alone, you are not without hope, and there will be blessings on the other side of this thing for all of us. In the meantime, I'm here - join the email group and let's chat. I love hearing from you more than I could ever say.

Let’s go after those family adventures you’ve been dreaming of together.