There is no "new normal."
This is not a "new normal," dear ones.
There is no new normal, just like there was no old normal.
Because "normal" is a construct of the mind, and a delusion.
There is no such thing.
We use concepts like "normal" to create the illusion of separateness and to continue to compartmentalize a world which is, and always has been, total, whole, and complete.
Our reality has *always* been a great mystery unfolding right before our eyes.
Change has *always* been the constant.
Normal has *never* existed.
The only thing that has shifted in the past two months is that pretty much everyone on the planet woke up to this reality all at once, and many are struggling to accept it.
I say this not to dismiss any destabilization and disorientation you might be experiencing.
Those things are very real.
But I find — for me, anyway — it's helpful to be precise about what it is specifically that is destabilizing and disorienting me.
Particularly if the locus of destabilization and disorientation somehow exists somewhere within my own realm of control.
In short: my goal is to always immediately assess and address my own perception of powerlessness.
Because you see, my dear ones, we are powerful beyond measure.
We feel disoriented because we are fighting with our own perception of powerlessness.
So.
All we actually need to do is stop fighting.
One of the things travel has taught me time and again is to expect (and then embrace) the unexpected.
For example:
Of course we're going to walk into a market in Tbilisi and ten Georgian grandmothers are going to insist we sit down and drink some homemade alcohol in the middle of the morning while feeding us freshly baked bread. One will have two fists full of dead chickens, and she'll try to send us home with one.
Of course there is going to be a whiteout in Greenland on the day we're supposed to fly there and our flight, and plans, will be cancelled. Of course the snot we didn't even know we had in our nose is going to freeze the moment we finally land in the country.
Of course a herd of 30 elephants are going to march right through our camp in the Namibian bush right at bedtime.
Of course.
All of those things might seem predictable, but they actually were surprising, destabilizing, and disorienting...momentarily. When we're traveling, no matter how dramatic our experience, we eventually call these sorts of things "an adventure" - so why should our experience at home be any different?
With travel, we bought the ticket, and so we take the ride willingly.
But I assure you nothing is different while you're at home. Home is not "real life" and travel "pretend life". Travel isn't something you opted into while home is something you do involuntarily. Travel is simply an amplifier of our full time existence. It amplifies because we're significantly more available to witness the barriers of our own perceptions when we are in novel environments, and use the magic of awe and wonder (god) to transmute the gross material of our own perceived limitations more effortlessly.
If you've ever traveled, even to a new city, I want you to know that you have this power within you. Frankly, even if you've never traveled in your life, you still have this power within you. You can put this "tool" to use right now, and watch it settle your system and reorient you back into alignment.
Try it.
