{"id":2151,"date":"2022-02-04T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mildsauce.org\/?p=2151"},"modified":"2022-04-01T11:17:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T16:17:42","slug":"the-grief-of-normalcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mildsauce.org\/index.php\/2022\/02\/04\/the-grief-of-normalcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Grieving Normalcy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Graphic by Tikal Rivera<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In November 2021, as we wound down from our vulnerable yet necessary Revival <\/em><\/a>theme, program director Matt Woods and I reflected on the upcoming year. We decided on the theme of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153normal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d late that summer; pondering about the changes in the workforce, Zoom University for those in school, and the new protocols in place for in-person events. We contemplated the effects of being in a pandemic for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would we be looking forward to as the holiday season was approaching? Thanksgiving, with all its lovely food and festivities? Maybe Black Friday, snagging a deal for Christmas? Or even Christmas day itself? Being around loved ones and family? Surely <\/em>the holiday season vibes would find its footing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, reader, I can assure you that it was almost none of the above. Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all criminal charges<\/a>. A school shooting<\/a> at Oxford High School left four students dead and 11 injured. The U.S. surpassed 46 million cases of COVID-19<\/a>, with 746,000 deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that was just in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now post-holidays, I feel very meh about the topic of normalcy. In general. I feel very meh about most things right now actually. I am still shaking off the fog of the November Blues, November Blah, The Kickoff for the homecoming of Seasonal Depression. It gets dark outside way earlier now (yes! I know this happens every year!). But also we produce more melatonin<\/a> so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a lot more sleepy, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cold. I hate the cold (yes! I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in Chicago!). These are the exact ingredients that do not bake into a productivity pie for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that for the past 4 years the holiday vibes felt off. Maybe it was graduating college, maybe it was entering adulthood where the holidays are actually not the carefree present-filled time from our youth, or maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my brain developing an awareness that some of the opinions of family members are actually not \u00e2\u2122\u00a5holly jolly\u00e2\u2122\u00a5 at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the thought of writing this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I could not gather the enthusiasm to think critically about this topic, I guess? It was a catch 22. I could not gather the enthusiasm for quite literally anything. I was moving on physical autopilot, walking into intersections without even looking, crying on the CTA because there was so much inner turmoil with a side of overbearing numbness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does one write when it feels like there is nothing to say? I was wondering if this was writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block, on which Toni Morrison said<\/a>: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I tell my students there is such a thing as \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwriter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and they should respect it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blocked because it ought to be blocked, because you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got it right now.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But when was I supposed to get \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? When things go back to normal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think back to the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Eye of Fire\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> that erupted in the Gulf of Mexico back in July. A gas leak sparked a swirling fire in the ocean that literally looked like a portal to hell only seen in fantasy films. Actor\/writer Ryan Ken aptly pointed out<\/a> how absurd it was that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to see this ball of gorging fire in the ocean<\/em> and then diligently go back to sending emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been normalized, going through all these collective traumatic events and then having to clock into work like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not affecting us. Hawaii faced a blizzard warning<\/a>, with the last one happening in 2018. Ten people died at Travis Scott\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Astroworld music festival<\/a> after a crowd surge. As millions were struggling with unemployment and the ongoing pandemic, billionaires got $1.8 trillion richer and some even went to space<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is gawking at the ocean being on fire, worrying about whichever sorority sister COVID has pledged, and raging about the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict really <\/em>the absurd thing here? What on earth is supposed to be the normal reaction to this? What exactly would be the proper response to this? Is having a reaction really the most bizarre part of this situation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has <\/em>been normalized is the dulling of our reactions to these absurd events so they do not affect work productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when does normalizing become dysfunctional?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned so much about grief and emotions in 2020-2021, and ironically, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s during this time I felt I had the least amount of space to express it. It was no longer normal to react to the conditions one found themselves in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Mildsauce invited five young journalists to reflect on the theme “Back to the Normal<\/strong>“. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a very eye-opening experience watching these creatives reflect on very captivating topics. From investigating how photographers navigated normalcy, to questioning the very expectation of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153normal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in society. Click\u00c2\u00a0here\u00c2\u00a0<\/a>to see all the stories upcoming in our Normalcy issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In November 2021, as we wound down from our vulnerable yet necessary Revival theme, program director Matt Woods and I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":2207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[243,304],"tags":[302,279,303,299,161,300],"class_list":{"0":"post-2151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorials","8":"category-the-normalcy-issue","9":"tag-holidays","10":"tag-mmj","11":"tag-normal","12":"tag-normlacy","13":"tag-podcast","14":"tag-zoom"},"yoast_head":"\nGrieving Normalcy - Mildsauce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mildsauce.org\/index.php\/2022\/02\/04\/the-grief-of-normalcy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grieving Normalcy - 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