Our story
What's the deal with the cats?
And spoons?
Who is the other normal?
For individuals suffering with mental health and chronic illness, we are often made to believe that our experiences aren’t normal. Instead, we’re told that having anxiety, depression, chronic pain, or the like, is weird and we’re encouraged to ‘just get over it.’ With 1 in every 4 people suffering from something, we’re here to remind the world that struggling is in fact normal. It’s just a different kind of normal. It’s just The Other kind of Normal that no one wants to talk about.
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Our mission is to make conversations of struggle and vulnerability easier through a bit of humor and a ‘give no more fucks’ type of attitude. Are you ready to join the movement?
ok, cool, now what's the deal with all the spoons?
Glad you asked! For people dealing with chronic illness, energy is often limited. This fact was brilliantly demonstrated several years ago by author and blogger, Christine Miserandino. She was eating dinner at a diner with a friend and was asked what it was like to live with lupus. She was using a spoon for her dinner and that night Spoon Theory was created. As Spoonies ourselves here at The Other Normal we felt that including spoons in some of our designs was appropriate.
ok, now tell us about all the cats...
Cats, while arguably one of the best animals on the planet, also help to represent resilience. It is said that cats have nine lives, and for many individuals struggling with chronic illness and mental health they often go through several ‘new lives’ themselves.
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A real-word example of this might be the life of our founder, Brittany, who has, like many of you, dealt with heartbreak, eating disorders, trauma, and a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
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Here at The Other Normal we want you to know that you are not alone. This is a judgement-free community and we invite you to become a part of it. We all have more lives to live. We all have value and worth, regardless of what has happened to us in our past. Life is worth living. And if we live it together, we may just find it easier to cope.
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And, you don’t have to like cats to join. We welcome lovers of all creatures. (Yes, that even means dogs).
