Familiarity & Healing

Familiarity breeds comfort. What does this mean? Every time I have heard this phrase, it is usually used within the context of invalidating a person choosing not to move forward or someone that keeps clinging onto habits that have proven to be self-destructive, yet they choose to indulge in them. I will preface this by saying that this is entirely my opinion. I am not endorsing any professional or institution when I say familiarity brings you more motivation to be less comfortable than it does the opposite. Let me explain. I am sure you have all heard the phrase in question. Most, if not all the time, it refers to things, people, places, behaviors, and actions that you are familiar with, and that you know this thing will guard you from the unknown. These are the things, tangible and intangible alike, that have the ability to hold you close and coddle you when the world exposes you to things that you are not familiar with.  

The other day, I was listening to songs, just having fun when I ended up coming to Hannah Montana songs. For context, this character (and other late y2k’s Disney characters alike) was my whole childhood. I am sure most of my generation can relate to this when I say I used to have a Hannah Montana bag, lunchbox, pencil box, and basically just wanted to be her. It was a time where I, as a child, would forget all else and watch the same 10 episodes on repeat. Anyways, usually, when I am alone, I love singing along to songs, and to my surprise, I’d known the lyrics to those I’d heard when I was maybe 9. Suddenly though, this happiness I felt resulted in a rush of emotions that hit me without warning and I started sobbing, just thinking about how different everything is now. This is not meant to be read in a negative connotation, I’ll explain why later.

This is a known fact that things like old songs, shows you’d watch in your childhood always leave you reminiscent about the times that have passed, and you feel overcome with emotions that you felt when you were going through in that specific time period. Not to be cliché, but the reason why these things happen to you is because you associate feelings of comfort and warmth with these things. That is what I was mentioning earlier. The feeling of home, a warm blanket engulfing me whenever I am consuming these forms of media reminds me that I have a place to go to when all else does not feel welcoming. Not only this, I find myself still emotionally attached to people whom I used to watch a few years ago, but cannot let go of. Vlog squad, a popular group of social media people who made vlogs, very entertaining but slightly problematic might I add, are my favorite source of entertainment when I have nothing else to watch (sometimes simply as background noise) Even when these people have ventured into things like podcasts, their own businesses and other seemingly different things, I still choose to follow them simply because I have known them for so long.

To others, having an emotional attachment with forms of media may be unhealthy, but to me, it is a safe haven to turn to!

However, rationality is just as important as that fuzzy blanket. I would say that change is inevitable. And everyone, at some point is resistant to, or isn’t too fond of it. It is necessary nonetheless. In other words you may not be able to run away from it because this is what signifies that everything is moving forward, we are changing, growing, evolving, even if we may not look much different than we did a few years ago, our mindsets, outlooks and knowledge keep changing, enhancing and growing without us actively partaking in it.

I do not mean to sound like pretentious people on the internet that preach putting yourself in highly uncomfortable situations, but sometimes, it is imperative that we do. For the world does not stop. And it is somewhat beautiful when you look at how far you have progressed from say, a certain event, a time period or just something you believed you could not move past. It is difficult, but it is necessary. And throughout, you have your comfort shows, movies, and characters to turn to. That is the beauty of the internet.