The comfy killer

When people say that they like things "a certain way" and don't want to change, I cringe. Especially in "senior" years, people can get downright cranky if you propose doing something they aren't used to. On one hand it could be called normal: they've tried a lot of things and have settled on things that work. But on the other hand, as this article points out, comfort can become a bottomless pit of inactivity and atrophy. I haven't had much trouble being comfortable - I just naturally stray for the edge of anything I come in contact with. But the past three years of my "retirement" have been a wrenching change anyway. As I strain to learn to play in a blues band, practice keyboards, and learn procedures at the retail store where I work part-time, I appreciate this reminder that comfort is a numbing drug to creativity and vitality.

Some excerpts from the article Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? (free registration might be required):

But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks. Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try — the more we step outside our comfort zone — the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

Ms. Ryan and Ms. Markova have found what they call three zones of existence: comfort, stretch and stress. Comfort is the realm of existing habit. Stress occurs when a challenge is so far beyond current experience as to be overwhelming. It’s that stretch zone in the middle — activities that feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar — where true change occurs.

“Getting into the stretch zone is good for you,” Ms. Ryan says in “This Year I Will... .” “It helps keep your brain healthy. It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy, which may result in dementia, Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases.“You cannot have innovation,” she adds, “unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.