“My whole life I wanted to be normal. Everybody knows there's no such thing as normal.” ~ Tori Spelling

WHAT IS NORMAL?

Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? What is considered normal? Am I normal? Are you?

Normal is a weekly newsletter where we beg the question, “What is normal?” Is it normal to drink alcohol the way I do? Is it normal to not drink at a wedding? Is it normal to feel social anxiety even amongst good friends? Is it normal to talk to yourself? Hear voices? Believe in God? Believe in aliens? Let’s explore and ask questions and share experiences.

We are all just trying to do this life thing. Let’s help each other feel a bit more normal about it.

WHO AM I?

My name is Jade. I’m a writer that has been dreaming of a medium like this newsletter to get my work out to readers, build a base of supporters, and get feedback for a super long time. I’ve had many blogs in the past. I’ve kept a journal basically my whole life. I watched my mother journal for all of my childhood, she’s my most favorite writer. And my grandmother was a wonderful writer as well. So I guess it’s in my DNA.

I’m not normal. I never have been but it’s something that I always wished for myself. I wanted to just feel okay. To fit in. From a really early age, I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I never really felt comfortable in my skin. I hated my hair and my nose and I told big huge lies to get people to like me. I once told my entire third grade class that C+C Music Factory was coming to my birthday party. They had a big hit song called Everybody Dance Now in the early 90s.

I struggled with substance abuse issues from the moment I took my first drink of alcohol. It gave me a feeling of belonging to myself that I had longed for. I didn’t drink like normal people. The way they say that normal people should drink. When I finally got sober in 2017 and as I grew in my appreciation for an alcohol-free life I started to question does anybody drink alcohol “normally?”

That led me to questions about societal norms in general and analyzing mental illness and mental health struggles. Everyday struggles that we all encounter. I love how a good meme feels so relatable and makes me feel less alone. We all laugh and identify and feel connected to one another through our oddness. Through what we thought made us weird or abnormal. So I wanted to explore that more fully here.

I am writing a memoir of sorts titled To All the Jobs I’ve Had Before. It’s a book about reinvention and self-discovery through fucking up and failing a lot.

I work as a life coach for young people and adults. Helping them to feel normal on their path of discovery and fucking up. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be at a certain place in life at a certain time and it’s all just a social construct. You can learn more bout coaching here.

Writing is my solace. My peace. It makes me feel sane. I’m working for you to create valuable content that adds peace and sanity to your lives as well. Your paid subscription means I get to pursue that more fully and with more time and attention.

Thanks for being here.

PAID VS. NON PAID SUBSCRIPTION

I want the normal portion of this newsletter to always be free. You can write to Dear Normal and ask questions or advice or share your stories. Normal is a weekly newsletter where every Wednesday we will have conversations about what is normal.

Paid Subscribers will get full access to my book, To All the Jobs I’ve Had Before. I will be serializing my book by releasing chapters every other Sunday. Paid subscribers will also benefit from audio recordings of chapters and behind-the-scenes conversations on career path, jobs, and the writing process.

Commenting privileges are always restricted to subscribers, which makes the comments a much nicer space.

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Thanks for subscribing! I can’t wait to go on this exploration with you.