Waking Up From Hypernormalization
The other day, I was standing in the kitchen, pouring my third cup of coffee (don’t judge me, it was one of those mornings), half-watching another “breaking news” from Aaron Parnas with one ear. There it was again… he relayed a politician saying something so disconnected from reality that I actually laughed out loud. Not because it was funny, but because… really? This is the story we’re supposed to believe now?
For a long time, I thought I was just being dramatic. Maybe I was too sensitive, or not resilient enough. But here’s what I know:
If you’re feeling like the world has gotten more bizarre, more disconnected, and more “let’s-just-pretend-this-is-normal,” you’re not losing it. You’re waking up to a phenomenon called hypernormalization.
So, What the Hell is Hypernormalization?
Hypernormalization is what happens when the abnormal becomes the new normal—and everyone’s expected to play along. The term actually comes from the last days of the Soviet Union, when people lived in a system everyone knew was broken, but pretending was easier than confronting the truth.
Sound familiar?
It’s that weird feeling you get when a lie is repeated so many times that nobody bothers questioning it anymore. When the news starts to feel like satire, when people parrot back slogans that don’t match reality, and when you’re left blinking, thinking, “Am I the only one seeing this?”
No, love bug—you’re not.
How Hypernormalization Shows Up Now
Let’s talk about how this sneaks into our daily lives. Maybe it’s scrolling through social media and seeing everyone act like everything’s fine when it’s not. Maybe it’s the way we’re told to “just stay positive!” while the world literally burns outside our window. Maybe it’s a family gathering where nobody acknowledges the big, messy thing in the middle of the room because it would make everyone uncomfortable.
It’s the gaslighting of an entire society.
It’s being told you’re too emotional, too negative, too much—when all you’re doing is noticing what’s actually happening.
The Cost of Pretending
Here’s where it gets real: living inside a hypernormalized world will mess with your head and your heart. It numbs you out. It makes you doubt your intuition. You start to question if you’re the problem (spoiler: you’re not).
I spent years thinking, “Maybe I just need to be more grateful. Maybe I’m too sensitive.” But the truth is, my sensitivity is my superpower. And so is yours.
Feeling the weirdness is the first sign you’re alive—not asleep at the wheel.
What Do We Do With This Awareness?
We refuse to normalize what’s destroying us.
We resist—not with rage and bitterness, but with radical softness, connection, and truth-telling.
We ground ourselves, nourish our nervous systems, and find other souls who can’t pretend anymore either.
This is the quiet revolution I talk about all the time. It’s why I built the Soft Life Society. Not to hide from reality, but to heal, rebel, and build something true, together.
Softness is not weakness. It’s resistance. It’s medicine.
It’s saying, “No, I won’t play small. I won’t numb out. I won’t pretend this is normal when it’s not.”
Three Tangible Ways to Rebel Softly (Starting Today)
1. Call One Thing by Its Real Name
Pick just one thing—big or small—that everyone around you seems to be glossing over, and name it out loud. You don’t have to post a manifesto on Facebook (unless you want to!). Maybe it’s telling your partner, “Hey, the news is making me anxious today, and I just want to be honest about that.” Or maybe it’s writing the truth in your journal: “This isn’t normal, and I feel it in my bones.” There is real power in naming what’s true.
2. Ground Yourself in Reality (Literally—Go Outside!)
When the world feels surreal, get out of your head and into your body. Step outside, barefoot if you can, and let your feet touch the earth. Dig in your garden, water a plant, or just sit with the sun on your face for five minutes. This isn’t just woo-woo—it actually resets your nervous system and reminds you what’s real.
3. Create a Softness Ritual
Choose one small thing today that brings you back to yourself—something comforting, intentional, and gentle. Light a candle and breathe for three deep counts. Make a cup of tea and really taste it. Write down three things that are actually true for you today, even if nobody else sees them. Soft rituals are tiny acts of rebellion in a world that wants you to go numb.
You’re Not Alone
If you’ve ever felt like the odd one out in a world that rewards pretending, please know: I see you. I am you.
The first step is noticing. The next step is choosing a different way—one rooted in honesty, softness, and the tiniest acts of rebellion: gardening with your hands in the dirt, lighting a candle with intention, gathering with people who get it.
If this resonates, leave a comment below or share your own “wait, what?” moment. (We all have them.) And if you want a little more softness and sanity in your inbox each week, join my newsletter—where we talk about all the ways to live gently, bravely, and fully awake.
With you in the wild and the weird,
Gina
Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. Very comforting. It often feels like everything is so raw and hurtful right now. I look forward to your posts!
I hope you feel better soon. ❤️
Yes! This is EXACTLY how I’ve been feeling. I work from home so in general am a bit isolated, but I’ve traveled to FL a few times this past month for some family things and just being out in public it seems like nothing is going on. I’m an internal ball of flaming stress just thinking, why is everyone acting so normal?? Besides one small stretch of protesters sitting alongside a road with signs that said Honk for No Kings..etc (my horn is the only honk I heard when I drove by) – there is no indication that we are basically on the collapse of this democratic experiment of a country and being overrun by essentially a group of thugs. So it does make me feel pretty crazy and I appreciate this post for making me feel a little less alone. Thank you.
Oh Gina, your posts feel like a warm and reassuring hug. I’m so grateful for you.
This morning I received my third issue of your beautiful Illumine magazine. I let out a soft exhale. Something to look forward to on this day of patriotic parody. I told my son today that I can’t get off of social media, because I find too many amazing humans there that I wouldn’t be able to find in my hometown. It’s been such a pleasure to sidle up to your circle. Thank you.
This! Thank you for expressing the way things REALLY are. What you wrote is truly and deeply appreciated. I am starting radiation for breast cancer soon and last week my 90 year old mother fell and broke her hip. Had to find a therapy place for her and then an assisted living place. All while trying to send emails and making phone calls re: the big, ugly spending bill. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself while the world keeps getting crazier and crazier!
When that damn bill passed through the Senate, I cursed ( more than my usual) and named called and choked up. I then said I need get outside!! I weeded and mulched my garden in the sweltering southern New England heat while listening to true crime pod cast. I felt accomplished!! Sweaty and dirty and real. Wishing those who take pleasure from the cruelty of this administration’s policies and cuts,the life they deserve. Nothing less,nothing more.
Thank you – I needed to read this today (and yesterday, and the day before…) I’ve been told I’m too sensitive my entire life. Even as a child, I knew on some level, that my sensitivity *is* my superpower, but I let others talk over me and let them make me think sensitive = weak. I know better now. And I thank you for sharing your magic and inviting me in. <3
I live in a world you described. Everyone around me goes about their daily lives never talking about how our world is burning down around us. I’ve been dealing with depression all of my life and now I feel like I’m hanging by a thread. Since I found you and your blog your words resonate with me greatly. I would love to receive your June and July magazines to enjoy and hopefully calm my mind to some degree. Thank you for being you!
I feel this hypernormalization keenly. I live a soft life tending my garden, baking Gina’s recipe for sourdough bread, reading physical books, walking in nature 3-4 times a week and teaching yoga 4 times a week. I encourage my students to tune into their nervous system and use their breath to calm and sooth themselves. I usually share a reading at the end of class to remind them of their true compassionate nature’s to themselves and all living things.
I feel like every day is an out-of-body experience. My husband doesn’t want to talk about ANY of it; he prefers to stick his head in the sand and watch non-stop TV. My work colleagues (and I work from home) walk a tightrope of trying not to acknowledge the dumpster fire going on and my closest friend also prefers to be an ostrich. So thank you for giving me some hints on how to navigate all the craziness and keep fighting for our country. I’m 72 and my dad and FIL are turning over in their graves right now having fought so hard in WWII.
So ready for this insanity to implode upon itself. History repeats itself which is why I desire for Herstory to be the norm. Women who still know how to hear their ancestors within their bones must express themselves now.
Thank you so much for this!
Thank you. I needed this. I have been told I’m too sensitive. I like to think I have the ability to see the other side.
yes to all of this. thank you.
I find it hard to sleep through the night. My mind races with all the negative things happening in the world. I used to be happy go lucky and thought that aging was my problem. I wish that I could be my old optimistic self again. Every morning I try to talk myself into being positive, but I just go down that depressing rabbit hole again. Any advise?
Calling it by its name:
Telling my neighbours to the south:
“Happy Independence Day” when I feel the need to say “Get well soon.”
Thank you for this. I love your social media content and so happy it led me here to your newsletter and this blog post. I’ve been reading about hypernormalization for a while now and feel feelings about how there’s actually something to NAME what I’ve been feeling for years but not knowing how to actually verbalize it / reflect on it with others who see, feel, know deeply that a LOT is off. I’m realizing I’ve had these kind of thoughts since I was very little.
Some of my earliest thoughts. But now in life, I see it on the macro scale. It really shows me now why a few months ago I finally after 12 years had to walk away from my corporate career. NOTHING about it: the way I and others were treated, the expectations given, the gaslighting, the “rewards” and not, for the extreme self sacrifice. None of it was normal. And yet it was made to be so like I was crazy for waking up and realizing the truth. That this like so many other things is abusive, unacceptable, and plain wrong. So I’m standing in this truth now in so many ways, and while I’m not quite sure what’s coming or what’s on the other side: I feel called to share this with others and let them know they’re not alone. You are NOT wrong and you are seeing and expressing truth when you resist and rebel. Thank you for the encouragement Gina!
This guy who commented on FB today about how some people were afraid and/or uninspired to celebrate the 4th of July. He said “I bet they would go out for Cinco de Mayo.” Wait What?
Thank you for acknowledging all of the abnormal things. Most of my family wants to pretend everything is okay and I don’t really have anyone to talk to about my fears. This helps.