We as humans are the sum total of common routines that we’ve learned and automated. This is how we and others determine who we are. It’s such a cursory look that misses our depth. Our depth is what’s normal.

Everyone was born with depth. We just meander away from it with our indoctrination into the intellectual sphere we call normal.

Side bar: Don’t you find it humorous that “normal” is defined by not being crazy? The researchers have studied crazy and then say that anything that’s not aberrant is normal.

Few have made a study of normal. Those who have done so know that normal is what we all have in common. Normal is the one thing that everyone owns but few have direct knowledge of. Normal is your animating force - that which keeps you alive and breathing.

It’s common to take this life force for granted, but that’s not normal.

We worship at the altar of the intellect. It’s a very common practice that, when investigated, goes against common sense. We give all the credit to the computer and ignore its power source. How powerful is your computer when its battery is removed or it becomes unplugged?

Our common method of operation is to ignore our power source and tacitly pretend that our brains are powering our life. That’s crazy.

The more you begin to associate with your animating force, the deeper and more normal you get.

Warning: You can’t think your way to normal.

In fact, it’s the absence of internal chit-chat that allows you to be normal.

It’s an uncommon shift in focus that gets you to normal. The shift is from the common practice of determining who you are by the thoughts in your head to directly experiencing the life force you have in common with everyone - normal.

There are no words that can describe the feeling of normal but it’s an unmistakable feeling that is far too uncommon.

Normal gets you to breathe easy again. It takes the edge off of common, and leads you along a more peaceful path.

Make it your mission to become normal again. All it takes is learning a practice that quiets your mind. There are so many to choose from. Find the one that works best for you.

One tiny shift in focus opens up a whole new world - one that’s quite normal.

All the best,

John