Time is everything.

We spend nearly one-third of our lives working.

Working 9–5, the average retirement age in the United States in 2025 is 62. However, most retirement accounts and benefits can’t be accessed without penalty until 65. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.

From the moment you’re born, assuming you live to 78, you have 683,280 total hours.

If you work a 9–5 (and hopefully not a minute more) from age 20 to 65, that’s 45 years of work—93,600 hours.

That leaves 589,680 hours.

Seems like a lot?

If you sleep the recommended 8 hours a night—fudging the fact that infants, teens, and college years all look different—that’s 227,760 hours of your life spent resting.

Now we’re at 361,920 hours remaining.

That’s 15,080 days. Or about 41 years.

Ages 0–18 are reserved for growing up. 23 years left. Four years in college? Maybe eight? 15 years left.

Oh—and have you gone to the bathroom? According to some online research, the average person spends about 73 hours a year using the facilities. Over 78 years, that’s 5,694 hours, or roughly 8 months. Let’s round up for simplicity: 1 year gone.

14 years left.

Feeling hungry? The average adult spends roughly 2 hours a day prepping, cooking, eating, and drinking. That’s about 7 years of your life consumed… well, consuming.

7 years left.

Showering? Brushing your teeth? Doctor’s appointments? We won’t get into all of that—but what about fun? A hobby? Exercise? Dating? Grocery shopping?

And because it’s relevant: the average time spent on social media is 28–45 hours per week. Generously, let’s say you have your phone from age 16 to 78. On the conservative end of 28 hours per week, that’s over 10 years scrolling.

You’d have to hope to live an extra 3 years to make up for it.

Time is everything.

That realization was my wake-up call. It pushed me to start questioning everything—to rethink what I considered “normal.” I didn’t know it then, but that moment was the beginning of my journey to redefine normal.

When I first did this math, it hit me hard. Was I really spending my most precious resource—time—the way I wanted?

I thought I had my life pretty well figured out. I grew up inspired by my Nan, who traveled the world, volunteered for causes she cared about, and sought out new experiences. I wanted my life to be an homage to hers. The plan was simple: go to college, become an ASL interpreter, bridge the accessibility gaps between Deaf and hearing communities, work, get married, have kids. I always pictured being a stay-at-home mom while they were young, then returning to work once they were older. After that, I’d travel. That was the script.

And I followed it.

I went to California State University, Fresno and earned my BA in Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies – Interpreting. I began working and loved my early career years. Dating wasn’t exactly a success, marriage was further down the line than I expected, and kids even further. So, I worked. I saved. I bought a house—because that’s what society says to do.

Then society told me it was a starter house, and that I needed something bigger. Something a family could grow into. So I shopped. Then society told me I didn’t have enough for the white picket fence. So I worked more.

I switched to corporate work, and my 8-hour days/40-hour weeks turned into 14–16-hour days and an I-don’t-want-to-do-the-math number of weekly hours. “If I want to travel when I retire,” I thought, “I have to fund it somehow.” So I worked.

I was giving away my time—over and over again—for money, for “normal,” for the life society told me I should live.

At its core, Redefining Normal is about challenging existing standards, expectations, and routines—and creating a new way of thinking, living, and operating. It’s about breaking out of your own habits, limiting beliefs, and comfort zones.

We are here to regain our hours, reclaim our lives, and redefine normal.

We exchanged our four walls for four wheels.

We’re homeschooling on the road. We’re immersing ourselves in culture and community. We’re taking ownership of the life we’ve been blessed with.

We only have so many hours to make an impact. To learn. To grow. To live.

Welcome to our journey. I hope, if nothing else, we inspire you to redefine a piece of your normal—and to truly live your hours.

Much love,
Jenny