Discomfort Zone

I believe that the most important thing I can do for my society is to make people uncomfortable. Usually, making people uncomfortable is wrong. It’s politically incorrect. It’s true that the line between an unexpected action and an unkind one is fine, or at least seems so; but this line and the line that people place between suitable and unsuitable actions are nowhere near each other. Society has a right to be touchy about the comfort of its members, but it also has a duty to avoid unhealthy stagnation. It seems to me that even in our progressive measures we can stagnate. Most changes are over too fast for anyone to realize their effects. Liberalism becomes Conservatism before these camps can be explored or even fully defined. I’m afraid that people will be content with the limited success they’ve had so far.

As a runner who races competitively, I know the necessity of discomfort. Bruce Denton said, “Runners deal in discomfort.” When I run, my body constantly looks for a way to trim my exertion. After a few minutes of running, my heart and legs and lungs settle into a rhythm, and I almost forget I’m working. However, settling into a rhythm during a race can be disastrous. If I’m comfortable, then I’m not going fast enough. I try to keep just beyond the edge of rhythm – at a level where I have to concentrate to hold my pace.

The same strategy applies to other arenas as well: art, science, politics, etc. What you’re doing at this moment isn’t good enough. It was good enough yesterday, but not today – and tomorrow, today’s effort will be lacking. Of course, it would be ignorant to strive for movement only in intellectual areas. Discomfort serves a purpose in everyday life as well. In fact, it may be even more useful there. A novel poem is progressive – but poetry has always been a progressive discipline. I’m frequently surprised by poetry. But imagine if a person decided to stop wearing shoes, or used his or her own phrases instead of traditional idioms. What would happen then? People would stop and stare and ask questions. They would begin to think about the small details of their life with renewed clarity. I’ll be happy if I can change one person’s perspective for good.