The Comfort Importance Hypothesis

I think everyone has a place where they feel most comfortable.  Isn't that the ultimate motivation behind every human's actions? Happiness and comfort, but mostly comfort.  Even the daredevils are "most comfortable outside of their element." So we're constantly on the subconscious (or at times conscious lookout) for places where we feel "at home," a.k.a. comfortable. 

That's not to say that we only find places comforting.  For example, some people take comfort in food. 

What  isn't comforting about this?

But I wanted to share a part of my life where comfort was a major factor in my stability.  I go to school in Southern California but I actually spent my freshman year at Boston University.  I was one of those, Southern Californian Asian American going to college in Boston.  I hated it.  I disliked my classes, I disliked that BU had no campus, I was in the one place in the world where none of my family members lived (I have a big family that kind of dots over the globe.  I have a theory that if we banded together to form a major network we could take over the world).  I felt cornered, stranded in my tiny brownstone dorm room triple with two roommates who disliked me because I wasn't a hippie.  So I took my Charlie card, tapped it against the automated ticketing machine on the T, and rode that metro all the way until I saw this: 

My unexpected place of comfort!

Trader Joe's, which originated in Monrovia, CA, was like a beacon of hope.  I walked in, and it was like there was something in the water.  Everyone was so happy, and welcoming (of course, I was a customer), and this TJ's had the same products that I knew and loved in L.A.  I felt so comfortable.  Almost every Friday, I would frequent this Trader Joe's and the next-door Gamestop which I also saw all over the place in L.A.  It was my little slice of home.  If I hadn't come to this TJ's in Brookline so frequently, I feel like part of me might have died.  I was so unhappy at BU, I sometimes would skip class just to come here and browse the aisles, maybe get a frozen quiche or a bag of unsalted almonds.  Even though I went to class maybe 60% of the time, I got straight A's, grades good enough to get me into university back on the West Coast, in L.A., mostly because I spent most of my time studying in or around this Trader Joe's. I was comfortable enough in that Trader Joe's to settle into this productive rhythm, as if I was back at home. 

How important was something as simple as a comfortable place in determining my future? Now I'm living in the city where I'm most comfortable.  I'm going to get married and live and raise my children here.  I've never taken the time until now to realize what a colossal role comfort plays in my life. 

I think my ultimate point is that we shouldn't take comfort for granted.  Today I'm going to tell someone I love and who I'm comfortable around how much I love them.  I'm going to go to Trader Joe's tomorrow and get some more butternut squash ravioli: 

...'cause I might've eaten it all...

So I recommend that you go tell that someone that you appreciate them, go spend a while in that special place, or hug that comforting stuffed animal, because comfort is more important in our lives than so many other things that are dominating the news (*cough cough*Rep. Weiner). 

Have a great, comfortable day, everyone! 

Éli