Thoughts on comfort

I am a bit like a tree that has been dug up and replanted, except that I did the digging.  After pulling up my Maryland roots, I spent a good month exploring Turkey and London.  This week, finally, I started putting down roots in Ely.  I unpacked my boxes and started the process of making a home out of my room.  Basically, I made a mess.  I had one desk, one small wardrobe, and a couple drawers in my bed.  I tried organizing things, but I just didn't have enough places to put things.  I started to get frustrated looking at the mess that I had no idea how to fix as yet.  This is when the tougher reality of what I had done started to hit me for the first time.  Up until now, it had mostly been exciting things, "making my dreams come true" kind of things.  Now, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I really miss my couch. I miss my bed, I miss my TV, I miss my car, I miss my closets, I miss my desks, and I miss my apartment with the wall to wall windows. I miss my stuff.

It made me realize that I'd spent a lot of time and money on comfort.  Each one of those things feels like an investment in my comfort, and I just pitched all that comfort out the window.  Comfort and stability are wonderful things, and they're important.  From all the children I've taught, I've come to think that comfort and stability are some of the most important things they can have.  They can also be what holds us back from trying new, different, and risky things.

On the one hand, I'm proud I was able to walk away from a very comfortable situation to pursue something that feels right.  On the other hand, it will take a while to get comfortable again.  I know just where to start, though.  There are three areas that have the most impact on my comfort: my bed, my shoes, and my food.  Those are the big three.  I sleep a quarter of every day, ideally.  I am on my feet for much of the rest of everyday, and everyone has to eat.  My food will be covered soon enough, so no worries there.  I got myself one new pair of shoes yesterday, and I may get a second this weekend (I have a black pair and a brown pair, and I need a chestnut red pair).  I need to sort out my bed.  I brought over a comfy pillow, but my mattress itself is just a basic spring.  This simply will not do.  Somehow, I'm going to make this more comfortable.  Replacing it would be a waste of time, because they just don't seem to make really comfy single mattresses.

Sleep well.  Eat well.  Take care of your feet.  This is where a happy life begins.

We Americans have an interesting relationship with comfort. We are obsessed with convenience, and we're good at it.  I live in a dorm again, and though it has a kitchenette down the hall, I immediately thought "but there are 3 doors in between me and that room."  So, I went on Amazon to price out the old college staple, the microwave/refrigerator combo, just for curiosity.  I discovered that it doesn't exist in the UK.  They have small refrigerators, and they have small microwaves, but they've never combined them.  Our plugs are small and efficient while the UK plugs are massive. I've visited several houses, department stores, and furniture stores, and I have not seen one lazy boy recliner.  I also have come across very few establishments with a drive-through window.

I have a lot to learn from the UK culture, but I have a feeling they can learn a lot from us, as well.