“Back to normal”… Ah,
that wonderful place we long for and aspire to reach when something has
disturbed or interfered with the status quo within our lives and perceptions.
We immediately assume that normal is good, desirable, healthy…. As if normal
were no less then perfect. But isn’t normal merely an ‘attained average’
after all… and why would average be anything to aspire to? We’re so anti-chaos…
we fight ‘the abnormal’ tooth and nail – and ignorance is all it takes
to succeed. But just how precious and needful is our desire to remain comfortable
within our illusions?
It was once “normal” to insist that the Earth was flat,
that we were masters thereof, and that the Sun revolved around us. Heretics
and Madmen were those who begged to differ! It was once “normal” for women
to remain housebound, uneducated, and subservient chattel, as it was to
segregate blacks and deny them any societal rights after slavery was finally
abolished – it was normal to remove First Nation’s children from their
homes, and cultures, and to place them into the horrendous confines of
Residential Schools run by religious institutions – stripping all mentioned
of their dignity. Ah, the ‘chaos’ that ensued when they took it upon themselves
to curb these restraints! It was once normal to hunt rare creatures to
the point of extinction - for “The Thrill of the Sport”, and to dump incalculable
amounts of raw sewage and industrial effluence into our harbours and streams.
It was normal to harvest the earth’s gifts indiscriminately and with abandon…so
that however possible, our self-directed economies would thrive. Whoops,
I guess we haven’t quite gotten all the way to that one yet. Normal, huh?
For instance, at this moment in our neck of the woods,
folks simply cannot wait to ‘return to normal’ after a massive electrical
power outage that managed to cripple all of our otherwise mindless and
insatiable endeavours, short of, hopefully, the sustaining of our humanity.
We’ve been asked to cutback until ‘normal’ is back in place once again.
Now, we could examine our choices, and insist on changes – which would
be incumbent upon us to instigate… But who would put up with the indignity
and chaos of having the status quo – ‘our power’ - interrupted?
However, far from being a prophet of doom, no matter when
and where ‘normal’ is displaced, I’d like to say that those diligent and
stubborn astronomers did finally manage to convince us we were not indeed
the center of the universe. Hence we were able to look up and outside of
ourselves. Minority groups, still fighting, have displayed time and again
that honour and dignity are innate, that the denigrated possess great wisdom
and invaluable experience, and that this should be freely and fully respected
for the benefit of all. Watchdog and environmental groups have been and
are battling the greed and unconscionable actions of the corporations that
rule our lives while ignoring the fallout - as do we for the most part!
Is Normal really the best we can do…?
Comfort… Security? Life will inevitably continue to rock
the boat, which is but a vessel of our own making. Why do we continue to
argue with The Sea?
~ The trouble with normal
is it always get worse – Bruce Cockburn
