The Lie We Call Normal
Christian Ray Flores here.
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The Lie We Call Normal
The sunsets in Puerto Vallarta are epic. We’ve been here a while and still can’t get used to them. It’s like watching northern lights in slow motion — blues, purples, yellows, reds flowing into each other in a dance no camera can capture.
People all over the world are moved by the oldest phenomenon in nature — a sunset. We pull phones from our pockets, take millions of pictures, post them to socials — and no one cares. Because you can’t transfer presence. You can’t package awe. No picture can replicate that zero-gravity moment.
The one where we are reminded how small we really are, and how vast creation is. No post can carry the paradox: that despite our smallness, we are lucky to be alive and part of something grand. Like no other creature on earth, we are hardwired for meaning and purpose.
We wither when our natural search for meaning gets trampled under the grind we’ve at some point agreed to call “reality.” Which raises the question: have we built lives around something profoundly unnatural? What if the wiser move is to design life around the person inside us who gasps with wonder — the part that comes alive in beauty, presence, connection?
Yes, we live longer, with more comfort and tech than any generation before us. But at what cost? Hunter-gatherers worked 3–4 hours a day and spent the rest in connection, play, and community. We volunteer for chains — 40–60 hours a week for raises, cars, and vacations — strapped to the hedonic treadmill, mistaking the matrix for reality.
The good news: the same technology that gave us unprecedented wealth and enslaved us can also liberate us. Today you can learn anything, reach anyone, and build anything. The question isn’t can we, it’s what for? More of everything? Or more of what matters most — time, connection, creativity, service?
Spending more time in Puerto Vallarta — not just a rushed 7–10 day vacation — is a revelation. What if what we call normal isn’t normal at all?
What if the first chapters of Genesis have been whispering the truth to us all along? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, shaped order out of chaos, and placed humanity not as consumers but as co-creators. Designed for relationship. For stewardship. For beauty and meaning. To thrive in deep relationships. To look up at stars and unhurried sunsets and remember who we are.
Once you truly see this, you can’t unsee it. You can’t unknow it. You can’t unlearn it. The choice we all have is to live on the treadmill, accept the playbook you were given, or burn it and build the extraordinary life you were meant to live.
A long time ago, I chose the latter. It’s never been and never will be easy, but it’s given me the riches of meaning: connection, creativity, service to others.
I’m looking for others ready to do the same — to step off the treadmill and live fully alive. Is that you?
P.S. On Wednesday, for paid subscribers, I’ll unpack the best moves that will get you there — and 3 mistakes I made that you must avoid at all costs.