places of comfort

We all have somewhere where we feel safe. Places where we can retreat when we are in dire need of a space to help us to withdraw, reflect, re-energise – enable us to face another day with optimism.

For me, there are two generic places that provide my comfort.

The first is inside a darkened cinema, preferably late morning matinee with only a handful of people also seeking solitude – my giant cave cocoon.

The second place is twenty three metres underwater floating through the ocean, surrounded by blue lighted coral, wispy seaweed waving with the current.

I also have a specific place, the place I grew up, a breathtaking bay on the south coast of Australia, which provides me with comfort but I am such a long way away from that place physically that my mind's eye is the only practical way I can visit.

I go to the movies more often when I am in countdown mode to any expected battery of medical tests. I have some overdue on my radar now and I am feeling apprehensive though optimistic about outcome prospects.

Watching films about redemption, like the Watchmen, help boost my energy. Somehow, watching conflicted men making stark choices lifts my spirits as I sit in a place where only the images on the screen and the sounds from the Dolby surround sound can touch me.

Sometimes it even helps to temporarily dissipate that indelible feeling of ennui that sometimes settles into my bones.