The Myth of Normal Spaces
Hello! I am so happy you are here. We just wrapped Mental Health Awareness Month, and all last month I absolutely loved sharing resources and reflections around mental health on LinkedIn.
One of my favorite recent finds is The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, by global mental health and trauma expert, Gabor Mate, and his son Daniel Mate. This book, along with others, has really got me reconsidering our focus on “normal”. It is becoming clearer to me every day, that normal, doesn’t mean good, healthy, or natural. But what does it mean?
According to Miriam Webster, normal means “conforming to a type, standard… characterized by that which is considered usual, typical, routine.” And stemming from the Latin word, norma, which refers to a carpenter’s (or architect’s) T-square.
There are so many “norms” I would love for us to rethink - from the way we host typical business meetings, to how our children develop, or to what we expect from our loved ones and ourselves, but the topic I would love to address today is our minds.
As a society and culture, we have long seen mental health as an individual issue, and an individual failing. This has creates a world where to struggle is somehow deemed the worst possible thing - to be “not normal”. But truly what is not normal is all that we have normalized - an auto-centric way of living, a work that priorities short-term profitability and productivity over human health, well-being, and the thriving of our people and societies.
I want a world that allows people the full range of human emotions, that supports our diversity of minds, bodies, and cultures, and creates a place where can share with curiosity and compassion rather than comparison and striving.
I want to hear from you! Please share this link, and let me know what “norms” you are ready to throw out and rethink?
————————
NOT TO MISS
The US Surgeon General’s report on the epidemic of loneliness, and the Healing Effects of Social Connection.
My interview with Business Insider: America's broken housing market is making millennials and Gen Z lonelier