According to the federal reserve, approximately 73% of adults reported living “comfortably”
during the year of 2022. Being allowed to participate in safe and comfortable communities is a
hot-button issue in the US right now. Many other countries even consider Americans too
comfortable, to the point where basic cultural courtesies are ignored. But what is comfort, truly?
Can the idea of comfort exist objectively, in a way which everyone throughout the world can
agree on? “No, of course not, it’s a subjective idea,” you might say. That begs the question: what
then is comfort to you, dear Reader?
Are you comforted by a soft breeze on a calm, sunny day? When the sky is so beautifully
blue that you can’t look away, and the grass is tickling at your feet, is that comfortable for you,
dear reader? When your mother lovingly caressed you with all the gentleness she did the day you
were born, did that console your incessant crying? Did you find comfort in being with someone
you love? She did. When the day is long, and you finish your final task, the stress finally lifts off
your shoulders, are you relieved, dear Reader? When the feelings of accomplishment floods your
brain, and Atlas may finally stretch, do you find your next moments spent in comfort or agony?
Do you have a pet, dear Reader? Are they comforting? Do you seek them out when you feel
down? Do you talk to them? Do you pet them? Do you hold them? Do you love them? Do they
love you? These are a lot of questions, dear Reader, I hope you aren’t overwhelmed. Even if you
are, it only goes to show how the moment itself is comforting, the way I steal that away from you
using only the text written on this page. Do you ever try to clear your mind of all the discomfort
you hold? Does it often work, the meditation and closed eyes, the calm music or dead silence?
What about food, dearest Reader, is a good meal comforting? The love cooked into a home-made
casserole, the warm filling of community in a freshly-baked pie, do you find comfort and
happiness in that? What do you see in me? Do you hear my voice as a rich, luxurious melody, or
am I but an impuissant annoyance to you?
I do hope you hear me as I’d like to be, my voice layered with the mythical calm which I
am interrogating you about. If I am weak in your mind, if even your own imagination cannot
bring itself to picture me as a calming figure, do you find that solace in yoga? I’ve been told by a
great number of people that stretching relieves their tension. Maybe you need something even
more potent than just yoga, dear Reader. Do you opt for a relaxing massage instead? Think about
it, dear Reader, and feel it with me. The knots in your back getting kneaded away, a pair of
strong hands working your body like dough, does that give you the comfort we all deeply desire?
When you drift off to sleep, and the world fades away from you, each thought and stress melding
into a tired sludge as your eyelids droop and a blanket snugly protects you from all that is outside
your bed, is that comfortable for you, my dear Reader? It is for me.
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