Pillows and Blankets

You know the feeling when the weather outside is gloomy, and the rain pours down like watery tendrils of some gigantic beast from the sky on its way through the earth and sewer drains? It's that instinctive urge to stay where you are, mash your head against a comfortably large and extravagant pillow, and then pull the blankets over you as though you were some little caterpillar undergoing a transformation; and maybe you are. When the sun rises again the next day, or in the next few hours, you'd thrust off your protective shell and dress and go dancing out but until then, you rather stay where it's warm and safe.

It's human instinct to avoid things that seem dangerous, just as it is with all animals whom are concerned with self-preservation. However, we have the perchance of viewing not only the physical things as dangers to ourselves, but also the metaphysical things that hide behind the curtain; for instance, the death of a loved one. The sense of fear. The pain of loneliness. We would often avoid all in favor of the warm blankets and pillows that make up our beds because, well, it is our instinct.

But much like an allergic reaction or an overzealous immune system, this protective mechanism can sometimes go horribly wrong. The child who has known only comfort in his surroundings, and just enough anguish to know what to avoid, will never grow. His experiences have a hard cap; he is limited solely to that which he has built around him. His environment has become his protective shell and unlike the waking of the dawn and the throwing off of blankets to greet the world, he won't ever have that awakening. The instinctual response we all have to seek only comfort has turned now, into a detriment. Naturally, the depicted case of a NEET is only a theoretical (and rarely realistic extreme, barring video game addicts and obsessive otaku junkies), but we can see less pronounced behavior in all of us, if we only choose to look.

Perhaps it is a response to adolescence, where much confusion is to be had from new experiences themselves and our ability to maintain both self-cohesion and internalize new sensory information is pushed to the limit, but as people grow older, the experiences they seek tend to streamline. This could be, granted, a consequence of finding one's place, the natural placement of one in the universe but at the same time, it could simply be comfort within circumstance. Such mindsets give rise to all sorts of strange creatures, such as 'relationships of convenience,' 'unhappy work environments,' and 'depression;' and perhaps it is because past some point, some mental age, we become too afraid to seek what we are lacking and cling to what we already have. Those who are adventurous cling to the thrill of adrenaline; those who are homemakers seek only to make more homes; those who are comforted by singles bars and one-night stands cling to, well, singles bars and one-night stands.

We grow afraid of the new and stay with convention because convention is known. The new is not and perhaps, can never be. Curiosity is only as strong as we are.

Yet, if you stay wrapped within pillows and blankets, you will never understand how the rainwater feels as it cascades over your eyes. You will never feel the winds as the storm blows through, nor hear the footsteps of a thousand sprites, and you will never see the dawn break through the cloud cover. Sure, perhaps you would dislike it; perhaps it is only wet, and cold, and damp, but how can you ever know if you don't cast off your blankets right now and go seeking? We all have our comfort zones, but it is when we step out of them, to places where we are afraid, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar, that we truly gain something new. To be more accurate, the opportunity to gain something new.

I am, of course, aware of my own personal boundaries for comfort; I dislike too much noise, too many people, anything in real excess and prefer at times to be alone with my own thoughts and musings. However, do I believe I can truly understand what 'too much noise' to me means if I do not step outward? The seek for new experiences should not be the same soft comforts we have always known, but the things that challenge us to change. It is only with change that we grow. It is only with growth than we can advance and hopefully, find something new beyond the pillows we keep on our bed.

The next time you feel a place is 'not your scene,' or a dish is 'not your taste,' give it a shot. It is through that that you'll change, and sometimes, aren't the wings of a butterfly better than the little feet of a caterpillar?

Today is sunny, but incredibly hot outside. Therefore, I am lazy.

Cheers.