1-Sentence-Summary: The Comfort Crisis addresses contemporary people who live a stressful life and talks about being comfortable with discomfort and reclaiming a happy, healthy mindset by implementing a few odd, but highly effective practices in their daily lives.
Read in: 4 minutes
Favorite quote from the author:
How would it be to just wake up one day and be set back in time? Before TVs existed and before 9-5 was even a thing? Honestly, I can’t picture a life without my everyday gadgets. However, that’s not necessarily a good thing. The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter challenges the idea of comfort in our lives. The book talks about the author’s experiences once he decided to step away from modern amenities.
It’s not every day that you see someone purposefully giving up their highly digitized life, their favorite couch spot, and their little rituals. However, the author decided to embark on this life-changing experience. He wanted to try out his ancestor’s way of living by camping in Alaska for one month. And during this time, he had to switch to survival mode. While it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, he’s learned many valuable lessons along the way.
Among them, here are my three favorite ones:
- Create your own rites of passage to toughen up your body and mind.
- Combat loneliness by staying alone in nature for a while.
- Life is better when you don’t depend on things for your happiness but live simply instead.
If you think these lessons deserve to be explored in detail, stick with me, as I’ll take each and every one of them and analyze them!
Lesson 1: Challenging yourself and going through life’s hardships unsheltered will help you grow.
We are currently living in a life of utmost comfort. We have constant access to food, shelter, entertainment of all sorts, and whatnot. Growing up, there aren’t many physical challenges we have to face. And ever since helicopter parenting took over, children are being sheltered from the smallest inconveniences and obstacles. However, it’s only in recent history that humans started to live like this.
Or species was used to fighting for their food, seeking shelter, and facing many obstacles on the way. Our ancestors were always on the go and had little access to comfort. And yet, they might have been happier than us. They were living in the present and appreciated the smallest things. Now, we face performance anxiety, burnout, and serious mental and emotional issues.
On his quest to become more grounded, the author found out that stripping away his daily addictions proved to be life-saving. He came back stronger, more focused, and with fewer worries on his mind. As such, he advises that everyone should ditch their physical comfort zone. Instead, we should expose ourselves to our own rites of passage or build our physical endurance.
By doing so, one will discover new emotions and build strength from the core. Studies suggest that going through such experiences can enhance health as well. The key is to find a balance between comfort and challenging situations. If you leave your shelter, you’ll find that life isn’t always pink. You will also learn to appreciate everything you have.
Lesson 2: Being by yourself in nature can help you connect with yourself and feel less lonely.
In a world dominated by technology, which allows us to stay in contact with each other at all times, nearly 50% of Americans claim that they feel lonely.
Ironically, being alone in nature can combat that very state. Enjoying the natural world can tame the mind chatter and give you moments of complete silence, which are rare nowadays. We’re never truly by ourselves anymore. We’re constantly connected to other people, if only via our phones, TVs, or laptops.
Solitude can help you reconnect with the most important person in the world – yourself. Allowing your mind, body, and spirit to sync will strengthen your sense of identity. Ironically, once you get comfortable in your own skin, people will start to like you more as well. However, the most important part is to find yourself and tame loneliness in the process.
A good place to start this self-searching journey is, as previously mentioned, nature. But how can you do so? Simply put, just stare at trees, animals, and the beauty of our ecosystem, instead of your phone or any other screen. Allow yourself to get bored. In fact, it’s particularly important to go through certain emotions that come when you disconnect yourself from comfort and security. Only then you will find your true self, the one that is creative, untamed, relaxed, and happy.
Lesson 3: Ditch unnecessary comforts and embrace a traditional lifestyle.
When you’re hungry, chances are you go to the fridge to grab something, or even better, order it from the comfort of your own home. The same goes for when you feel tired, you can easily go to your house and find your bed, or perhaps when you feel bored, chances are you’ll grab your phone and splurge on the many apps it has. Frankly, life isn’t supposed to be lived like this, and doing so is what makes us unhappy.
Having everything ready to be consumed keeps our brain inactive, and makes our body always crave more, as the dopamine secretion diminishes or becomes inexistent as we find our resources available at any given time. Hence, it’s time for a change. The author suggests that a good place to start is by distinguishing craving from real hunger. Are you feeding your body fuel for the day, or simply exciting your taste buds?
Try to eat only when you’re hungry, and after a glass of water. Fasting has immense health benefits, so you could give it a try as well. Feel comfortable with hunger, and allow your body to go through this process just a bit before you feed him. Moreover, he addresses the importance of exercising outside, in nature, preferably by carrying some weights. Our ancestors did so, and their bodies were at their peak! Exercise improves mood and helps your brain produce more dopamine, which will increase happiness.
The Comfort Crisis Review
The Comfort Crisis addresses the importance of ditching the unnecessary comforts in our life, which may look like they’re helping us carry on with our days more easily, but in fact, they strip us from our happiness. In a world where all necessary resources are one fingertip away, the author decided to embark on a journey to Alaska to know a life without security. In return, he improved his self-confidence, became more grounded, then came back to tell everyone the remarkable benefits of living a simpler life by giving up on the day-to-day comforts.
Who would I recommend The Comfort Crisis summary to?
The 25-year-old person who’s passionate about investing and wants to learn about the lives of successful people in the field, the 30-year-old who loves biographies and real-life inspirational stories of top performers, or the 35-year-old who feels lost in their career and wants to get motivated.
Last Updated on May 19, 2023
