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Beyond the Comfort Zone

I can hear the voice of Anne-Marie, my yoga teacher, saying “I can see you hanging out in your comfort zone! Go deeper!”.

Indeed, going deeper is the path the creative person takes, to stretch into uncomfortable places, find comfort, and then go deeper again. That is how you grow and how you gain new perspectives and ideas.

I find myself most satisfied with my creative outcome when I have gone the extra mile into something new. I’ve forced myself to work in a particular technique when my mind is screaming to lean on things that are more familiar, or I’ve crawled in the grass to find a new angle instead of using one from my last success.

This is true for most things. The sweetest rewards await just beyond our reach.

Often I’ve thought that the stretch needs to be something huge (for me), like defying gravity and jumping out of a plane (with a parachute) and falling with the faith in the Universe, (and the professional skydiver you are attached to)

Yea. That is a pretty good stretch…

But really, for me, the big stretch is a smaller action. It is a daily decision to stay healthy, physically, mentally, and creatively. It is a small decision, made in the moment of everyday choice. But over time the culmination of those choices, go deep.

Some of my difficult daily decisions are:

  • Drinking water instead of eating chocolate
  • Going for a walk instead of spending another hour on the computer
  • Doing something creative
  • Morning Pages
  • Centering
“Change begins at the end of your comfort zone”
– Roy T. Bennett
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yoga, stretching, comfort zone, going deepAbout the image:
Anne-Marie Bergeron doing a deep yoga stretch at Playa Coronado in Panama.
Photographed by Jamuna Burry.

Jamuna Burry

Exploring ideas on creativity through digital art.