Comfort
Welcome to Exhibition #5
If you’d like to react to entries / share what this question provokes for you, leave a comment at the bottom of the page!
If you didn’t get a chance to submit something but would like to contribute to this collection email us something at strangersbound@gmail.com
<3
Mary & Ilaria
P.S.
You are formally invited to our very first virtual Stranger Bound convening. Join us September 15th or Sept. 22nd at 11:00am EST. We’d love to meet you… Collide worlds… And officially welcome you into this community. Comfort may or may not be a topic of conversation too ;). We hope to see you there.
01 — Too much comfort! — Emilia — Berkeley, CA, USA
I made this doodle after moving back to my home town and struggling with feeling lonely and unmotivated. My mental health was bad and the steps I needed to take to get out of my comfort zone and feel alive & energized felt inexplicably scary and out of reach.
Externalizing the feelings into this visual felt good and with time I was able to take baby steps out of that place <3.
02 — Comfort Zones — Priyanka Dangol — Arlington, VA
03 — UnComfortable — Sotorios — New Haven, CT
A protest at the New Haven Mayor's Office.
10 formerly unhoused tenants are being ordered by the city to leave their tiny sustainable homes with nowhere else to go. This is a protest organized by U-ACT outside of city hall (right below the mayor's office) to address this.
sotorios.fedelius13@gmail.com
The city removed the tiny homes that were sheltering the unhoused on one of the hottest days of the year.
04 — Playing Outside — Mia Navarro — Arlington, Virginia
This is a 30-second video montage of moments from a little lagoon near my house. The sunlight glistens on the trees and water, the babbling brook is clear and cool to the touch, a dragonfly sits next to me and I find a smoky quartz.
05 — comfort is like a braindump — ila — Wageningen, Netherlands
06 — Is comfort a good thing? — Mary Bibbey — Washington, D.C.
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Is comfort a good thing?
If it is... How come some of the most enriching and beautiful things seem to live on the other side? Require such discomfort. Or a willingness to put it at risk.
Being 24, surrounding by other 20 something year olds, it feels like we are all swimming in an uncomfortable sea of change.
We grasp for and collect comforts. Build it into our routines. The foods we make. And into how and with whom we choose to gather...
And yet...
I find myself being pulled at once towards the places and people that anchor my life... And away... towards the leaps of faith, the unknown, in a pursuit of those things that are out of sight and touch.
I am living in the longest dance party ever between comfortable... and TOO comfortable.
If comfort is a good thing... why can we have too much of it? Do I want to live a comfortable life? An uncomfortable one? Or one that lives in the dance between?
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Is it okay if my words make you uncomfortable?
If I lead with care and my intention is sound... can I put that at risk?
I’ve learned this year I’ve been afraid to make people uncomfortable.
I’ve lived as if I’m not allowed to do so. As if there is something very wrong and negative about it. While I enjoy and strive to make others comfortable, I’m learning without the permission to put this at risk... to ask a question that might challenge this tranquility... I experience a loss of power and freedom.
I admire those who aren’t afraid to face discomfort. Who allow it to be a result of speaking their truth or standing up for what they believe in.
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I recently heard a beautiful remark.
“Get those butterflies flying in formation”
I love this framing and it makes me think about the uncomfortable sensation we can feel before doing something high stakes. I think about the minutes before a competitive race. Or the moments before speaking before a large audience.
This discomfort feels wrapped up in the possibility we will miss the mark or fail to meet the moment as best we can.
To fly butterflies in formation acknowledges the feelings, the opportunity, and reminds us of our power.
To fly in formation is to leverage discomfort, rather than resist it.
07 — Spaghetti — Claire — Vermont, USA
08 — Becca Rosen — Arlington, VA
Comfort is connection. With oneself, or others or a space in the world. It is a balanced moment built on the nostalgia of your past, delighted by the present connection, and excitement for the future’s unknowns. It cannot last forever. That future layer is where I think comfort and discomfort stride hand in hand. I like think the two are yin and yang, a complementary sort of act.
In its essence, comfort is understanding and ease, but standing alone, it can spiral into distraction and overindulgence. The best relationship of comfort/discomfort gives us the ease in one part of life to reach for the discomfort in another.
Journal Entries
In light of this month’s theme, we’re including some Stranger Bound journal entries from one of Ilaria’s journals. The question asked of those who crossed paths with the journal, and put pen to page, was:
When do you feel most at peace?
That concludes Exhibition #5. Thanks for stopping by. Consider sharing a thought, reaction, or question in the comments below!
If you didn’t get a chance to submit something but would like to contribute to this collection — email strangersbound@gmail.com with your entry.
