
When I was 18, a boy said something to me that stopped time.
He shouldn’t have been talking. We were in a Maths class. The teacher’s voice, rendered unintelligible by the subject matter, the heat, and the swoosh of the ceiling fans, was no match for the boy’s words:
“A ship is safe in harbour, but it wasn’t designed to stay there.”
A bubble formed around us. An understanding bloomed… until the teacher’s reprimand broke the moment. But he had articulated who I wanted to be. Someone who leaves the harbour of their life. Someone who wouldn’t get stuck in their comfort zone.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve attempted to define ‘comfort zone’ and I have struggled to the point of almost giving up. It’s a slippery beast. One person’s comfort zone is another person’s ultimate fulfilment. Someone’s comfort zone can shape shift with time. An 18-year old’s can look very different to a 45-year-old’s.
In the end, this is how I’ve chosen to define it:
The comfort zone is being trapped between the fear of the unknown and the knowledge that entering that unknown could provide the missing pieces of you. It is settling for a life less than you’d hoped for. Leaving the zone won’t necessarily get you what you want, but you won’t die wondering what might have happened if you’d tried.
When I was 18, I knew what I wanted my life to look like. I was ravenous for my independence. I wanted a veterinary career. I was going to travel. I was never going to get married or have children. For me, at that age, marriage and motherhood represented the ultimate in settling.