# Ep 118 - What If "Normal" Is Actually the Problem? with MaryAnne McKibben Dana

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/created-creative-podcast-6694810/ep-118-what-if-normal-is-actually-the-problem-with-maryanne-mckibben-dana
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/created-creative-podcast-6694810/ep-118-what-if-normal-is-actually-the-problem-with-maryanne-mckibben-dana.md
Podcast: [Created Creative Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/created-creative-podcast-6694810)
Published: 2026-02-23T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://createdcreativepodcast.com
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/8b90edaf-0ac9-481d-8bba-822bb82d8c73.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2045

## Resource

Dawn and Ruth start this one with Ash Wednesday updates and a wild circus reinvention Dawn attended (no animals, robotic performers, no ringmaster, just pure light-show magic). The circus becomes the perfect metaphor for what happens when you throw out the old playbook and create something entirely new. Enter MaryAnne McKibben Dana: Presbyterian pastor in Northern Virginia, writer, leadership coach, and author whose fourth book Better Than Normal drops April 14, 2026. MaryAnne's been living the "yes, and" improv principle for years (she literally wrote a book called God, Improv, and the Art of Living), and now she's taking it to the next level. Here's her thesis: What if most of our struggles aren't internal deficits but external cultural mismatches? What if "norm culture" is the problem? MaryAnne knows this from raising three neurodivergent kids through mental health challenges and watching how the world tries to squeeze them into boxes that don't fit. Better Than Normal argues for discarding the idea of a default human standard altogether. We're talking neurodivergence, race, immigration status, LGBTQ identity: all the ways humans actually exist versus how we pretend they should. The book's six chapters walk through shifts like moving from certainty to curiosity, from rigid categories to expansive possibilities. MaryAnne imagines a world where we question everything: the 40-hour work week, traditional schooling, all of it. Dawn coaches MaryAnne through her discomfort with self-promotion, reframing publicity as stewardship of an idea that can reduce suffering. Because this book? It's arriving at exactly the right cultural moment. LINKS: Find out more about MaryAnne McKibben Dana's work: https://www.maryannmckibbendana.net/ Join our Patreon now and gain access to month…

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