The Comfort Zone

You know that little voice in the back of your mind, that says things like “hey, don’t go to the party. You should bail. It will be awkward and you don’t know enough people. Just stay home, a quiet night in sounds great.” And then you go to the party, you don’t know anyone, and next time decide to politely decline and mope at home?

Yeah, I’ve learned to trust that voice.

That voice, that gut-instinct, is like the faintly audible beeping sensor of our comfort zone– like on a fancy new car that can park itself. BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Some people I’m sure treat their comfort zone as unnecessary, or a boundary that needs to be pushed. A comfort zone isn’t comfortable to them at all, but a sign that they are bored or something… I don’t know, as I’m very clearly not one of those people. #sorrynotsorry

Sometimes it can be great fun to push past those boundaries. Try something new. Learn something. Sometimes.

Other times, I’ve found that the comfort zone is less about sticking to the safety of my couch (although that’s good too) but it’s often about finding what is authentic to me. So comfortable that it’s almost boring (if it wasn’t so endearing). Like an soft, threadbare quilt. A safety blanket, as it were.

Sometimes the things that I think are boring and dull only seem that way because they are so pervasive in my life that I take them for granted. Conversely, the things that seem exciting and new are sometimes less bold choices and more just flashy distractions from what’s really important.

I don’t really know the point of saying all this. Honestly, it’s just things I was thinking about picking out a font for my new logo. It was a lot more challenging to decide what font was so clearly “Summer Child Designs” than it ever is to just pick up a pen and draw something. I thought that being authentic and myself would be natural and easy, but I actually spent a lot of time worrying about it. Is that pride? Vanity? Ego? I don’t know. But it really only worked out when I paid closer attention to the things that I had originally dismissed as boring. Those were the things that were most authentic and comfortable when I really noticed them.

Anyway, that’s all from me today! And of course, May the Fourth be with you!