comfort zone

noun: a place or situation where one feels safe or at ease and without stress

Oh how lovely to be in my little bubble. My comfort zone. My routine. I wake up and go through my schedule slowly and methodically, day in and day out. Coffee, yoga, work. Cleaning, cooking, caring for my family. It’s a safe place of predictability, slow and steady comfort that is under my control.

But outside of that bubble is a big wide world of beauty and complexity that beckons. Whenever I step outside of my comfort zone I am rewarded. With what? It is hard to put a name on discovery. Excitement? Anticipation? Endorphins? Perhaps it is just the continued revelation that I am so small. There is nature of course that looms large and majestic and wild. And then there are people who are kind and creative. That heady mix shifts my perspective and puts me back in a place of awe. Every. Single. Time. My problems, my stresses, my routine isn’t important any longer. Anxiety gives way to inspiration. When my viewpoint is changed then so is my attitude and my outlook on so many things.

I suppose what I have learned, over a long period of experiences, is that pushing myself outside of my comfort zone means I am learning new things. Uncomfortable or not, that means I am growing. And growing is good, even if it’s uncontrollable. After all, who doesn’t want to be just a bit unpredictable? I am pushing some boundaries outside of my comfort zone, and I kind of like that about myself.

“One element of Madonna’s career that really takes center stage is how many times she’s reinvented herself. It’s easier to stay in one look, one comfort zone, one musical style. It’s inspiring to see someone whose only predictable quality is being unpredictable.”

Taylor Swift