What is normal? What does it mean to be normal? Well, normal is defined as “typical, usual or ordinary; what you would expect”. What may be considered normal by society, might not be normal to us as individuals. As cultures vary from country to country, the meaning of normal changes.
Social norms can vary from country to country. Most common ones are holding the door open for someone, shaking hands when you meet someone and saying phrases like “please” and “thank you”. Around the world, these social norms would be different. In Japan, there are social norms like speaking softly, not making direct eye contact with others while talking and not blowing your nose in public. In Greece, greeting a friend or family is done with a kiss on the cheek, being 30 minutes late is punctual and food is always passed to the person on the left. Each country and each culture, has their own social norms that will be different from one another.
What might be normal in society, might not be normal for everyone. Some see a normal life as living without any kind of illness, whether or not that is a physical illness or a mental disorder. For others, it might be living a life that you can be yourself in. For some people, taking medication is a normal thing and for others, going to the gym would be a normal thing. It is all up for interpretation based on our own behaviours. Even how we behave in society and interact with others may be different than most social norms, even if it is normal for us. For those that are germaphobes, they may avoid shaking hands when meeting someone.
What is seen to be normal today, wasn’t always seen to be normal and it will continue to change over time. In the 1990s, it was perfectly okay to smoke in restaurants and many children were playing outside until the street lights came on. Normal is a very moldable term and it can be changed by influence. Everyday, new influences are appearing. A common one is used with many brands as they advertise new products and use a diverse group of individuals to promote inclusivity.
From different cultures and countries, to our own everyday lives, normal can have a wide variety of meanings. So, what does it mean to be normal? Normal is anything that we want it to be, based on who we are and how we act with one another.
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