Contra on Nostr: What's normal anymore? Honestly, I don't think most of us could tell you. We've been ...

What's normal anymore? Honestly, I don't think most of us could tell you. We've been taught that normal is whatever the majority happens to be doing, so the word has drifted right along with the crowd. If most people doomscroll till 2am, that's normal. If most marriages fall apart, normal. If nobody on the street knows their neighbor's name, that's normal too.

That isn't where the word came from. Normal comes from norma, the square a carpenter held against his work to see if it was true. It was a standard. You measured yourself against it and found out where you were off.

So if we actually sat down and agreed on what a normal human being looks like, I think we'd land somewhere pretty old fashioned. A man who isn't easily swayed. Who loves his wife sacrificially, the kind of love that actually costs him something. Who raises his kids to be thinkers and innovators instead of followers. Who works with a joy that makes people ask him, why are you so happy to work? Who isn't living a constant life of chasing his own pleasure. Who helps his neighbors, checks in on people, and has a couple of friends he can talk to about anything.

Most people would call that guy rare. Some would call him naive. A few would assume he's hiding something. That should bother us more than it does, because that man used to be the baseline. He was who you were supposed to grow up into.

I don't think this gets fixed by a movement. It gets fixed one house at a time. Love your wife like it costs you. Talk to your kids like they have minds of their own. Go to work and actually be glad you're there. Call the friend you haven't heard from in a while. Keep at it long enough and people will start asking you why, and you'll get to tell them.