Christy Writes: Erasing the Boundaries of the Comfort Zone

Lately I’ve been contemplating, to the point of near-mania because that’s what I do, the idea of the comfort zone. In the first place, zones are something we created and impose on ourselves, and if I were the Happy Hippie in Charge, there would be no zones. But that’s a different mind wandering for a different day.

Right now my focus is on the comfort zone. People like to admonish themselves and each other to “get out of your comfort zone.” I’m not even sure that’s really a thing. And if it is, I’m erasing it from my life. I’ve spent too many years pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying something new, something big, something huge, only to stomp back to my comfort zone if it didn’t work, and skip giddily back if it did. See that? I always went back to my comfort zone because I left it there, available and comforting.

Let me put all this into context. I finished my new novel just before Christmas, and spent the first few weeks of the new year getting it all polished and shiny and ready to go. My first three books I self-published, learning the system as I went, from editing and layout to cover design and book promotion. By the third book, while I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a self-publishing expert, it had definitely become more comfortable for me.

So I took a leap and sent this one out to one of the big boys of traditional publishing. I’m not going to go into any more detail about that right now, but I already know what I can do in the self-publishing world. It was time to try something else. Maybe I’ll get a book deal. Maybe I won’t. But if I’d stayed where I was comfortable, I’d never find out.

I know there is another school of thought on this, one that says if you succeed where you are, why try going someplace else and possibly fail? It’s a valid argument but it doesn’t allow for growth. And as an artist, if I don’t grow, I’ll wither. That’s just how it is. Even Philip Roth, the literary world’s high priest of grump, has been known to write books with a voice so different from his other work that I’ve had to check the cover several times to make sure there wasn’t some mistake. Susan Sontag wrote in-depth essays about her work in war-torn countries in addition to her novels. Jonathan Franzen is known for his fiction, but he is also an amazing narrative journalist. Some of John Updike’s best work was his poetry. Growth isn’t inevitable. It’s very much evitable, but only if you want it to be.

Now that my book is out there, awaiting a verdict, it’s time to start something else. For me, the first two signs of spring are the arrival of my new running shoes and the itch to crawl into a new writing project. So in keeping with my recent practice of erasing the borders of the comfort zone I’ve just left, I’m writing a play. I have this intense superstition about not revealing anything about a new writing project until it’s much further along, but this is the first full-length play I’ve ever attempted. Two of my greatest loves have always been writing and the theater arts, so I figured yeah. I’m ready. Let’s leap. And if I fall, don’t try to catch me. I’ll already be leaping again.

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