Normal?

Why does the word "normal" even exist? It makes no sense to me how it could have come about and become a word that is applied so often in life. I am baffled actually. With so many different kinds of people in the world, how could anyone ever try and classify something as "normal?"

I always hear people talking about not having a normal family, but who is to say what's normal for a family? I think those postcard families that have the perfectly manicured lawns, the boy and girl who are beautiful, a dog and a cat, and their white picket fence are usually the furthest from normal. It's the homes where everything appears to be perfect that generally have the most issues, but like water polo, little happens on the surface. I think it's more normal to be strange, dysfunctional, and a bit off-beat. That is more normal to me than fitting into a cookie cutter mold of perfection (that's just eerie in my opinion).

When it comes to the way people dress, act, and look, normal should never even come up. So what she's wearing no shoes with a dress skirt and a crop top while rocking sunglasses covered with real daisies? What of it if they put Ketchup on everything they eat? And who are you to judge and glare at someone born with a disability? None of these things are abnormal, but instead normal within their own realms.

There is a huge problem in society these days with all of us thinking that the way we do things and think is the best, only, or "normal" way. It saddens me to know that so many people will never travel, because it is through traveling with an open heart that we gain the most valuable knowledge we could ever acquire -- an understanding and appreciation for differences, and the ability to look at things from many perspectives without forming judgement. There's no such thing as normal, only beautiful and wonderful differences that should be celebrated and embraced.

Today's Thought: Consider what it is that you think is normal in the ways of food, drink, dress, and actions. Now think about the fact that there are definitely some things that you think are normal that people around you (including myself) do not. See? There's no such thing as normal because we each have our individuality and see things in different ways. :)