Why Normal Isn’t Healthy

How to Find Heart, Meaning, Passion & Humor on the Road Most Traveled

By: Bowen White

Narrated by: Bowen Faville White M.D.

The definitions here for "normal" and "healthy" are different than definitions one learns during medical training. I do not recall much about the topic of "healthy" being addressed during training. The focus was on the absence of health or to state it more plainly, disease. Diseases were well defined by objective criteria. And when those objective criteria moved back into the normal range and the patient was feeling much better they were said to have returned to "health."

To me, that is not the same thing. So how, then, do I define 'health?" Health here is the ability to work, to love, to play and to think soundly. That means that someone with hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, bipolar disorder, cancer, etc. can be healthy. Whereas someone else without any known ailment or abnormal lab results, probably isn't. It's not about the criteria we learned in medical school. It is about how people experience the living of their lives: their jobs, their families, their friends, their gifts, their purpose, themselves and well being.

Being normal means when stressed, we often make a bad situation worse, addictions abound, workaholism is rampant, 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, financial wealth goes up but happiness doesn't, less than half of Americans are happy with their jobs, we are better at competing than collaborating, honesty is not the best policy, we repress how we really think and feel while expressing just what's safe to say and we learned to be our own worst enemies!

That may be normal, but it certainly isn't healthy!

Why wait for the near-death experience to see what we want to start doing that we haven't risked before? Why wait to start doing what is healthy for our relationships and us as well? And finally, what do we want to keep doing, albeit differently?

Open that box. It seems safe but it's a trap. You may be caught, but you have the key.

©2024 Bowen Faville White M.D. (P)2024 Bowen Faville White M.D.

We Are All Sacred: Growing Up With the Man Who Wrote the Book

Growing up, Why Normal Isn’t Healthy wasn’t just a book on a shelf. It was a philosophy that shaped my home, my conversations, and my sense of what it means to be fully alive. Most people read this book and meet Dr. Bowen White, the physician, speaker, and passionate advocate for play and wholeness. I had the gift—and sometimes the challenge of simply calling him Dad (as you’ll read in the book. I’m grateful to say we are stronger through what we’ve gone through together!)

This book isn’t academic; it’s personal. It invites the reader into a life of integration, of humor, of healing. I watched these principles play out in real time—whether through Dad’s clown nose tucked in a suitcase for a keynote or the way he taught me that vulnerability was a form of strength, not something to hide.

As his daughter, I’ve wrestled with what it means to live in a world that constantly pushes us to “act normal.” But thanks to his teachings, I’ve also learned how to resist that pressure—with courage, with compassion, and often, with a good belly laugh.

Why Normal Isn’t Healthy isn’t just a book. It’s an invitation. It asks each of us: What if the parts of you that never felt normal… are actually the most sacred?

Blow-minding, heartfelt, and humorous

I loved listening to this book! Dr. Bowen White is a natural storyteller. He combines poetry, scientific research, humor, and spirituality to help us crack into ourselves, get vulnerable, and live more authentic lives. He encourages us to break away from social norms that harm us so that we can more fully love on ourselves and each other. A book to read again and again!