Normality- a deep dive into what makes you, you.

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nor·mal /ˈnôrməl/ adjective 1. Conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected. "That is not normal."

"Why can't you just be normal?"

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Growing up I had never seen a single movie, TV show, or live broadcasted event where a actor or character wore a hearing aid. Or at least proudly, that is. I had never seen a musical, or read a book where the heroin of the tale also happened to be profoundly deaf or wear hearing aids.

Am I normal?

I won't speak on others behalves, but I can confidently say that there were and have been moments in my life that I questioned if people existed that were like "me". As a little kid I can remember wondering if other kids listened to the world like me, other kids that would have to go to the nurses office every morning to have a boot put on their hearing aid in order to use the FM system the teacher wore. Or If there were any other little boys or girls who would have to leave class because their batteries died in the middle of a lecture... Or even ones that had no option other than to sit in the front of the classroom otherwise they couldn't follow along with the topic of discussion...

Was that normal?

Was I normal?

Frankly it wasn't until I became older that I soon started to realize,

normal... isn't normal.

We live in a world where blending in is the way to play it safe. One where through the use of social media and technology we are able to establish a persona which we exhibit to the public. The problem arises when one comprehends that the act of posting allows the opportunity to plan it out... To proof read the caption or retake the picture from another angle... Or for some of us even edit the picture (I won't judge). This is all quite beneficial when used in the context of maintaining long distance connections to loved ones or friends, yet can so quickly turn to the opposite. In real life, this doesn't work. We are forced to be authentically the perfectly imperfect versions of ourselves that exist in the moment. Without the chance to edit, filter, or retake the "picture".

Social media combined with the fast moving pace of the modern world has a multitude of perks yet also come the pitfalls. Posts of "happy and busy" "normal lives" can create a false precedent that if you aren't just that... you are sub par.

I'm here to tell you that is not true.

How I heart it is that we are all human, we all have faults, flaws, and natural born impurities. They're what make us different, what separate us from the pack. We will try our best with what we've been given and keep on going. If I'm being totally honest, a life where everything is problem free and perfectly falls in to line to our avail... sounds a bit dull if you ask me.

There must be one extreme to make its counter part present.

There can't be light without darkness.

And even the faintest light shines through an ill-lit void.

The silence is the loudest.

The happiest song sings the saddest tune.

The youngest spirit is the oldest soul.

The biggest smile hides the deepest pain.

The strongest hatred conceals the fondest love.

The deepest secret shares the most shallow truth.

And the strongest thread eventually begins to pull and fray.

A standard simply can not exist when there physically will never be two of the same people to walk the planet.

You are you and that is enough.

There is no such thing as "normal" here on this place we call earth.

Only you.

Embrace what separates you from the rest.

And keep on being yourself.

There is no other.

-Niko Charney