The New Normal

You may have noticed I’ve been grossly absent from this blog lately. Maybe not. Maybe, like me, you notice when someone has a new blog post up, but don’t notice when there isn’t a new one. If you follow me on Facebook at all, you may have seen that, back in May, my dad had a massive stroke, so you haven’t expected a post.

Now, I’m not really big on hanging out my personal life in public, even on my personal Facebook page. So, I’m not really going into details here, since I don’t think the hospital stays, insurance issues, incompetent movers, or nursing home musical chairs are very interesting.

But I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. This entire experience has been filled with sorrow, anger, panic, helplessness, and depression in a great big stew of all the worst emotions humans can experience. There have been good days and bad days — and the bad days have been pretty damn awful.

But people can’t sustain that over a long period of time. The mind checks out, I think. At some point, as long as nothing changes, no matter how horrible the situation, it begins to feel normal. To be honest, each time we reached what we’ve been calling “The New Normal,” something new happened to throw us back into emergency mode. Right now, I’m on the other side of that again, and everything seems normal. Not great. Just normal. This is what life is now. It’ll change eventually, I’m sure, but for now, this is a normal day.

So, what’s this got to do with writing? (You knew I’d have to bring it around eventually, right?)

This all got me to thinking about the characters in Monster Haven. Zoey begins with no knowledge of monsters or fairies or gargoyles existing. It doesn’t take long before she settles into her new life — her new normal. She can’t sustain a high level of panic, fear, distrust, and disbelief. No one can live like that. The emotions have to level off.

Maurice is going through a terrible divorce, but he settles in, too. I suppose there are some people who normally dwell in a place of sadness, but that’s not Maurice’s personality. No matter how bad things get, he’s going to recover and accept the new way of life.

Normal doesn’t necessarily mean bright and cheery or dismissing of the way things are. For some people going through a loss or other tragedy (or monster invasion), The New Normal might be a pretty dark place. But in the end, I don’t think our minds or bodies are made to function on high alert or constant sorrow indefinitely.

I’m sure there are all sorts of psychology papers written about this. It’s not a new idea. It’s simply new to me.

I’m living The New Normal.

It’s time for me to stop existing in emergency mode and time to get back to work.