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