The redefinition of comfort during the pandemic

There’s no need to deny it: we’ve all been there. Whether it was for a brief moment or a few days (or even weeks, perhaps), for reasons we did or didn’t understand, we’ve all been on the verge of a breakdown, mostly feeling lost and overwhelmed.

And I guess not being able to turn to our people the way we usually did is exactly what pushed us to ask ourselves: “what is it I have within reach that can make me feel better and take my mind off things for a while?”

• Firstly, a while ago I read something quite inspiring online: “Remember that in the darkest days, when everything else stopped, you turned to artists”.

I realized it couldn’t be any truer, at least for me, considering that’s what I did – movies and music were the answer for me when I was feeling blue, and escaping to what I like to call some kind of parallel universes helped me regain some balance and calm my nerves when everything else seemed to fail. Even though it’s fictional, it doesn’t mean it can’t help you on some level.

• Secondly, we “turned into artists” as well, in our own small way.

I noticed that somehow those bad moments gave me the chance to explore and test the waters, in order to understand how to make good use – from an artistic point of view – of all that time we had on our hands and maybe try and develop new skills I didn’t know I had in me before.

While forced to avoid contact with others – which is probably the one thing that defines us as humans – we were left to rely only on ourselves, therefore we started seeking comfort in those simple things and tasks we used to take for granted or ignore on a daily basis, such as writing, drawing, painting, or even colouring.

You’re probably thinking about all those things you would love to do but never have the time to actually try, aren’t you?

Well, this is my advice for you: always dedicate some of your time to whatever makes you feel good, not only as an excuse to get distracted, but to inspire and motivate yourself as well. Sure, use them to cheer yourself up when you need to, but don’t wait for the blues to come – don’t be afraid to give your comfort zone a chance to expand, even in the smallest of ways.