Hello, my friends. Come in. Have a seat.
Thus far on this blog, I’ve mostly kept to things that I’m into, or that are helping me keep the anxiety at bay.
- Getting out of your comfort zone.
I know that this is the most obvious, well-worn advice and it sounds vague. But I think about this David Bowie quote frequently: “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” He was talking about this in the context of giving advice to young artists, but I feel like it can really apply to so many things in life.
- Returning to the comfort zone.
There’s a reason it’s called a comfort zone! It’s comfortable! Sometimes those words get a bad rap. They can be interpreted as complacency or as being too risk-averse. But who DOESN’T want to feel safe and comfortable? Maybe there’s a hobby you haven’t returned to in your adult years; it could be a movie you haven’t seen in forever, but loved in your childhood and adolescence. Maybe it’s a place you used to go to to. Why not take a trip back, whether physically or figuratively, and see if it can spark some fun again? It may not feel the same as it used to, but you might find yourself enjoying something in a new way all over again.
Here’s one of my old comforting blankets. It’s been 30 years this week that Kurt Cobain passed away. An eagle-eyed reader or two of this blog may have noticed that my sign-off is directly inspired by him. I think peace, love and empathy are important things to hang onto.
Peace, love, empathy,
Stephen
