New Normal?

For years, I’ve been saying…

As a society, we’ve been going faster and faster and faster… at some point… all of this… is going to come to a halt. I wonder if that’s beginning to happen today.

I have these amazing… beautiful… talented… bright… delightful… LIGHT OF MY LIFE daughters. If you can’t tell, they’re everything to me. And even with as busy as my job(s) keep me, they keep me busier! They have me as a band mom, (color) guard mom, percussion mom and my youngest wants everything, but mostly cheer and dance. So we’re constantly on the go! Competitions, band concerts, musical events, guard competitions, percussion events, every weekend, gone. Usually, my oldest is going in one direction and my middle in another and we’re having to decide way to go. My youngest was recently diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and my grandma was convinced it was because we’ve had her on the go pretty much since the day she was born. (which we know is not a correlation, but probably didn’t help).

When people would as me how I’m doing, for the last few years, my standard answer has just been: “Tired, good, but tired” and always with a smile! I’d be exhausted from whatever competition or trip we were on but so proud of my girls because they’re getting a life I never had and I’m so grateful that we can give it to them. I’m so grateful they can do these things I never had the opportunity to do. We didn’t have Winter guard when I was in high school! or Indoor Percussion groups? This is all new. and We certainly didn’t have an extra $1000 laying around so I could do these winter sports activities (as that’s what they’re called, and let me tell you… my kids sweat so much, practice so hard, exercise more than ever, they’re sports!)

I started reading (listening on Audible) to a book called “Thank you for being late” by Thomas Friedman. This has been a very enlightening book!!! It talks about how he’s grateful for his meeting partner not showing up on time because it gave him the time back to his day to start thinking about that very book… about how fast society has become. and why. I was shocked by how similar I had thought for the last several years… His findings about how technology had exploded since 2007, due to Moore’s Law has been a direct correlation of us being able to have not just PDAs in our hands, not just GEN-1 of the Iphones but the Iphone 11s. Moore’s law is the theory of why 1 computer doesn’t take up warehouse space but can be kept under your arm safely and comfortably while you walk from meeting to meeting and maintain internet connection. Moore’s Law is why we now have 24/7 news cycles and now have media running a muck with stories and driving mass hysteria with ANY LITTLE THING they see fit. No matter what it is or if it’s true or not, and no matter what side of the isle they’re on. This book puts on paper what I’ve been saying for years… we keep going faster and faster and faster… when will this all stop?

I think we will finally see something change soon.

We have seen a huge shift recently with COVID-19 reeking havoc on our world. I get on social media here and there. Maybe more now that we’ve been at home all week. And I’ve seen my friends posting more about how they’re appreciating the time with their families. What if all of this happening is God’s way of forcing the world to come together? What if this happening is a way of helping human kind to take the advances we have made but slow down and appreciate what we have? What if this world crisis is a way of having us take time to stop to be helpers once again, look out for one another once again and slow… down… ? During this time, yes it has made me stop and think about what is this all for. I hate to see us lose so many lives in the world. But I have to wonder, what is it all for? Can we find some sort of meaning in this? What I do see as a whole is we are slowing down. People keeping talking about “when we get back to normal” and I keep thinking to myself “Don’t you mean ‘find your new normal?’”

I don’t know about y’all. But even before all of this, I would have given anything for more time with my family. After this, I’m hoping the new normal means - you guessed it - more time with my family. ❤