Phoenix: Live Love Laugh

What is normal, really?
Who even gets to decide what “normal” looks like?

Is there such a thing as an old normal and a new normal?
Or are we all just figuring it out as we go?

I remember once asking my son why he couldn’t be like other “normal” teenagers who hang out at the mall and do all the usual teenage things. His response stopped me in my tracks:
“Who decides what’s normal? Maybe my normal isn’t your normal.”

That question has stuck with me ever since — because, honestly, I’ve been asking myself the same thing.

The truth is, for the past four and a half years, I haven’t known what “normal” is anymore.
Most days, I live in a brain fog — juggling pain, confusion, and exhaustion.
To the outside world, it might look like I have it all figured out:
I smile, I show up, I keep going.
But if you could see behind the smile… you’d see a woman still trying to piece it all together.

I digress.

If you scroll back through my blog, you’ll see I first started posting in 2016.
But even before that, I had a small functional blog on Google+.
Back then, my life was full to the brim:

• Earning my M.Ed. (Master’s in Education)
• Working two jobs (full-time and part-time)
• Active in my church, running the Ephesus Adventurer Club (think camping trips, parades, meetings, feeding the homeless, visiting nursing homes)
• Vacations, family time, friendships, social events

That was my normal.
Busy, vibrant, sometimes overwhelming — but it was mine.

Fast forward to now — from 2014 to the present — everything has shifted.
The life I once knew slowly unraveled after my coma.
Living with Sickle Cell Disease, brain injury, and chronic health issues has changed everything: my daily routines, my energy, my relationships, even my dreams.

I’m still learning how to live inside this “new normal.”
And honestly, some days… I’m still figuring it out.

(And side note: I’m still figuring out how to use WordPress too — so bear with me as I navigate this new learning curve along with everything else. 😉)along with my daily life.

“Maybe normal isn’t something we’re given. Maybe it’s something we create — piece by piece, day by day.”