Lately I've been thinking a lot about what comes after the mess we currently find ourselves in.
Because we simply cannot go back to where we were. There is no real normal to go back to.
Once the illusion of "normalcy" has been ripped away, what we're left with is the sobering reality that what we've allowed to happen for way too long simply isn't the way things should be.
One day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will be past the brunt of the chaos.
And I hope we never, ever, ever return to normal.
New on Substack:
I Hope We Never Return to Normal
The ’90s seem to be having a resurgence, and I don’t think that’s an accident.
When the world feels this wired with tension, people reach backward. Toward a decade that felt steadier. Less hostile. Less combustible. A time before every headline arrived already vibrating with threat. And yes, I loved the whimsigoth magic of the ’90s too — the velvet and candles, the moon phases, the feeling that mystery could exist without fear riding shotgun.
But the version of “normal” many white Americans remember from that era was never the whole story. It was curated. Buffered. Built on distance from harm and distance from history.
