Leave the Comfort Zone

It’s not easy to leave our comfort zone. Our comfort zone is comfortable, right? Don’t mess with it if it works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Some things need to stay in the comfort zone. A school day routine that gets the kids out of bed and ready to go is something to leave alone. Treasure it! Build on it!

Those comfort zone activities are habits. A university professor told a class I took that humans were creatures of habit. We weren’t creatures of creativity. 

After the howls of protest died away, he challenged our thinking. He had us clasp our hands together. You could try it yourself. Interlace your fingers with your palms touching.

Could you note which thumb, right or left, is on top? Unclasp your hands and re-clasp them so the other thumb is uppermost. Don’t clasp them like always, and merely swap the thumbs. Clasp your hands so your fingers change places. 

It feels strange, right? And this was the professor’s point. We do things out of habit, and when we try to change, we don’t. 

We argued that the creativity bit was a bridge too far, but the professor qualified his comments further by drawing our attention to the creative process: 

Portrait artists paint portraits. 

Landscape artists paint landscapes.

Musicians play jazz or blues rock or, reggae or hip hop or …

Writers write mysteries, romances, or thrillers.

Rarely does an artist leave their niche for another.

The thumb on top thing persists. Our comfort zone is comfortable. It gives us warm, fuzzy feelings. Leaving our comfort zone can be frightening, challenging, unnerving or … feel free to add your word there. 

If we leave our comfort zone, we learn. Recall the child tidying their room. In a roundabout way, you asked them to leave their comfort zone.