DailyPrompt–1859

If I could ban one word, it would be:

“Normal.”

Such a small word.
Such a heavy cage.

Normal is what silences difference.
Normal is what shames pain that doesn’t look visible.
Normal is what makes people question their worth because they don’t fit inside a narrow definition.

What is normal anyway?

Is it health without struggle?
A life without trauma?
A mind that never overthinks?
A body that never flares?

Normal is often just “common.”
And common is not the same as correct.

I’ve lived enough life to understand this:
What is called “normal” shifts with culture, time, power, and convenience.

But authenticity?
That never shifts.

I would rather live real than normal.
I would rather be honest than acceptable.

So yes — if I could ban a word, it would be that one.

Because different is not wrong.
Sensitive is not weak.
Healing is not dramatic.
And surviving is not abnormal.

— Maggie
The Afterlove Voice 💫