The delta variant aside, things have started getting back to normal in my little bubble of the universe. I caught myself saying the words "back to normal" a few days ago, and as the words came tumbling out of my mouth, I already knew that wasn't the case.

The fact is that the world is very much a changed place. We now have vaccines, but we also have variants, and there are entire countries for which the vaccine remains more hypothetical than real. Things are hardly "normal" or about to return to that state.

Moreover, what's so great about normal anyway? Normal allowed for the conditions where we were dreadfully unprepared for a killer pandemic. Normal was an economic model that allowed a few people to get rich on the pandemic and crushed a bunch more.

Just as important, and even more within your control, is your definition of normal in relation to your own personal affairs. Think back to the pre-pandemic version of you. How much of what was "normal" in the way you handled yourself then do you want to chuck overboard right now? I'm making a list of things I used to treat as "normal" that I never want to do again.

I'm not looking for things to get back to normal. I'm looking for a new, better, normal.