Don’t Go Back to Normal

When this is over,

Don’t treat it like a virus

That allows you to pick up where you left off,

Feeling better, feeling normal, feeling as good as before.

Treat it like puberty.

When it is over, you’ll never be the same again.

It will leave its mark on you.

You’ll leave behind what you were before

Forever.

You will gain new capacities, new desires, new responsibilities,

New challenges.

Your voice will change.

Every month or so, your body

Will remind you that you are part of something bigger

Than the games you have been playing so far.

You’ll still be you, of course,

But you’ll have seen things, known things, felt things,

That you can’t unsee, unknow, or unfeel.

The worst thing that could happen to you

Is to return to the old normal, because

A new adventure

A new chapter

A new maturity awaits.

 

— Brian D. McLaren