How often have you heard this phrase in the past couple of months? “The New Normal.” What does that mean? It seems to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I have heard it to define a new spiritual awakening, where the world population wakes up to a new awareness of their purpose in this life—maybe a kinder treatment of the planet and the other creatures that reside here is part of this awakening. Even if you are not the “spiritual” type, this new awakening could still involve less greed and less consumerism, or a greater awareness of other people who occupy the planet with us—greater compassion and empathy, a new connection with the meaning of love and family.

I have also heard the phrase to mean that we should all prepare for darker times. Maybe the new normal is a world of less contact, no more hugging strangers, no more formal business handshakes, more ubiquitous masks and eternal social distancing. I’ve also heard it to mean less travel, more work from home, fewer freedoms, and maybe even the collapse of the global economic systems that have allowed the world to function in the free trade and exchange of ideas, products, and human resources it has always enjoyed. The new normal could be a dark world indeed, depending on who you listen to, a world of “Big Brother”, human tracking, and global control.

What does it mean to you?

I like to think that whatever comes about we approach with soul in mind. Human beings are not only highly efficient, and clever, machines, but we are also beings that respond to love, awe, beauty, art, music, and meaning. As a physical body, we more often than not rely on our senses to make contact and integrate with this “soul language”—we see beauty, we hear music, we touch in order to experience connection with other humans, other creatures, and the awesome natural world that surrounds us. In all the news reports, articles, and musings I have read, listened to, and watched, I see very little credence given to these very human things—it isn’t all about how effective we are at keeping the natural world out with distancing, washing, and masking—yes, there is a time for this in order to do what we can to mitigate the damaging elements of nature—but we must do it all in such a way that we do not lose sight of our soul.

I do see a lot of things that have come about during this time that illustrate our unified reality. As I mentioned above, people seem to be focused more “on the greater good”—focused more on connection with their own families as well as with their neighbours. A nice walk around the block seems to always elicit eye contact, heads nodding, smiles and a friendly, “hi, how are you?” Nature seems to be responding in such a way we have not seen the likes of within lifetimes. Empty city streets bring the wild animals out—curiosity? Reclaiming? It is hard to tell, but it is a beautiful event. So we are in touch, at moments, with ourselves, our fellow humans, and with nature. But this is all in the middle of the crises—what of the aftermath? What sort of “new normal” will we create? Will we learn something profound from this experience? Or will we only adjust what we feel needs adjusting to keep us safer, keep our money flowing, or to beef up our preparedness for another onslaught from Mother Nature? Or—will we keep soul in mind and give new meaning to an old world?