What comforts you? What stresses you?

chef · Post by **chef** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:13 am

Most of us when stressed or overwhelmed all seek a comfort zone or seek certain things that brings us comfort or relaxation.

It is different when I need to de-stress vs when I want something that makes me feel good. De-stressing for me is an intense weight workout in the gym....not so for comfort.

I think one of the reasons there are so many fat people is that they find their greatest comfort in foods. Isn't that true for most of us.

I am no different. I seek out those deliciously bad things when I have had a really tough week. I want my comfort foods when I am down, sad, or frustrated.

Best one: chocolate. I once told someone I could be bought with really good chocolate. The idiot offered me a Hershey's Bar......my response: "Surely you jest......NOT!!!".

Chocolate supplies a need nothing else can....in almost any given situation. I thought about that tonight when I was physically frustrated. I started going through my freezer looking for my 'hopeful' hidden container of Godiva Dark Belgium Chocolate ice cream. I started emptying the contents of my freezer determined to find the elusive tempting container. YES, I finally found it. I so enjoyed that right out of the container, so uncouth, so empirically satisfying (sometimes better than, well, almost).

I had to laugh at myself. As I was enjoying each bite, I caught myself making groans of pleasure. Thank goodness no one was around.

Other comfort foods that I lose myself in:

-good hot wings (and they are so bad for you, I don't have them often).
-fried green tomatoes, yum (I am such a southern girl).
-a glass of really good red wine (I love Cabernets and Shirazs, but lately have discovered wonderful Chillean and Italian red wines),
-really good New Orleans bread pudding
-wonderful cheeses (heated Brie with butter, for dipping french bread in and don't forget to have it with the red wine).

I have the most crummy memory but I can remember a place 20 years ago and tell you what we ate on that occasion).

Outside of food, other comforts....hmmm.
- A big fluffy bed with a down comforter on a really cold night.
- the first warm day of spring.
- the smell of my children, especially when they were babies (I used to smell them all of the time. I am into smells too). Babies smell wonderful (assuming they don't have a dirty diaper).
- the smell of my grandparents house or maybe their coat.....would evoke such good memories.
- the smell of the earth when I am working in my gardens.

What comforts you?

Wistfully reminiscing,
Vicki

What comforts you?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:23 am

I like snugglin' with my puppy!

chef · Post by **chef** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:45 am

Such a good one, Tony! My husband is gone quite a bit, traveling for his job. Our cat sleeps with us every night and insists on being loved on periodically. Last time he was gone, I was so comforted by my sweet little black cat sleeping with me, and thinking how lonely it would be without her. What a comfort our animals are to us, especially those who live alone.

Regards,
Vicki

RACastanet · Post by **RACastanet** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:21 am

Hmm... Yep, chocolate.

The aroma of Hoppe's #9. Linda likes it too!

Two stroke engine exhaust.

The combined smell of cigar smoke, cabbage, ham, polish sausage, whiskey and beer - grandma's house for the Christmas eve family gathering.

Rich

2Green · Post by **2Green** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:23 am

We have both our cat AND our dog sleeping on the bed...wouldn't have it any other way.

But what comforts me?

#1: Quietness. In urban life, quietness is precious. I'm lucky, live on a cul-de-sac, but I frequently come home from 2:00 AM gigs and savour the silence.

#2:Music. Playing solo music is a great comfort to me.If there's too much noisy TV around I whip out my $130 noise-cancelling, sound-isolating headphones and just trip out.

#3: Driving. I went for over three years without a radio in my car, and found that on long drives my mind just sort of kicked in.
I do have a basic radio in my car now, but I turn it off a lot.

#4: Biking, especially through wooded trails. Bikes are silent, and the beautiful scenery changes like panorama daily and seasonally -- always different, always beautiful.

#5: Rainy nights when I'm indoors.

#6: Tent camping, most especially the campfire.

#7: Reading. long novels by Ludlum, Clancy, or engaging physics or science-history books.

#8: The ocean. Luckily I live by the sea so I can go to the ocean any day of the year and marvel at its beauty while it transports me away.

#9: Sleeping in. I'm a night person so I never want to go to sleep. Once asleep, I never want to get up.

#10: Coffee. Dark roast. Fresh ground. Just 10% Cream, no sugar.

MMMmmm...

NM

chef · Post by **chef** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:55 am

Rainy nights with someone you love....the best!

Cafe' Du Monde's Beignets & Cafe Au Lait Coffee, wonderful coffee with chicory and heated cream.....this was a New Orleans tradition (located at Jackson Square before hit by Katrina).

Vicki

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:38 pm

2Green

Your list of comfort situations are so familiar, that I swear you stole my thoughts!

Except I'd rather walk the mountain trails instead of riding them on a bike. You need to take time to smell the flora.

And if I ever got another motorcycle...

I also am like the classic ADD kid, although I am no longer a kid and never had ADD. You see with an ADD kid, a stimulant calms them down.

I love stimulating drinks (like my diet dews, green tea, and cappuchino), and I have a need for speed. That relaxes me. Go figure...

I also like snuggling with a certain someone who loves to chat and will let me be quiet and just listen.

- Bill

Mary S · Post by **Mary S** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:05 pm

The sound of a voice on the phone from far away...

The sounds of my cat purring like a race car when I rub his chin....

The massively oversized hand-knit sweater I wear on cold nights that belonged to my dad...

Hearing something good on the news instead of the usual bad things in the world....

A really reall really good cup of coffee...

Hot home-made soup when I think I'm "dying" with a cold....

Hearing my friends laugh when we're all together and just hanging out.

benzocaine · Post by **benzocaine** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:21 pm

An afternoon nap on a rainy day(haven't had one in way too long)

The warmth of my house after a long day of deer hunting in the colder days of November and December.

Sleeping with your newborn child next to you.

Cofee.

Chris H. · Post by **Chris H.** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:57 pm

Hanging out with the wife

Stringer full of fish

Fullfilling the need for speed

Chillin with the devil dog

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:36 am

Hey Chris, Nice Fish, Dog's, and Bike!

I'd have a tough time deciding which one I liked best... I think i'd take the dog over all of them. He's a friend for life.

chef · Post by **chef** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 3:36 am

Man, Tony, did you read " A Boy and His Dog"? Your post smacks of it. It is a sci-fi (and later a movie) of an old Harlan Ellison book.

Plot: A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex, and they stumble into an underground society where the old society is preserved. The daughter of one of the leaders of the community seduces and lures him below, where the citizens have become unable to reproduce because of being underground so long. They use him for impregnation purposes, and then plan to be rid of him.

In the movie, Don Johnson plays a young man in a post nuclear war world who has an interesting friend, a telepathic dog. The dog gives him an advantage in dealing with the barbaric world he lives in. When Johnson finds one place that has escaped the devastation of the war, he also finds some rather odd attitudes.

In the end, he hooks up with this babe and the ending is rather bizarre.

Rent the movie (if you can find it). It is pretty weird with an interesting ending; yep, I think you can relate to it.

Vicki

Kevin Mackie · Post by **Kevin Mackie** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 11:52 am

Getting a phone call from my oldest daughter at night when she's leaving work and needs someone to chat with while waiting at the subway.

Coming home to hear a joke or a story from my son, knowing he's in a good mood and handling the stress of being in high school.

Knowing that my parents went to the great beyond confident in the fact they did a fine job raising their kids with what little they had.

My wife, who's been with me through thick and thin all these years.

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:05 pm

I find it comforting to drive my enemies before me, take their souls and listen to the lamentation of their women.

I'm trying to be tougher

Vicki, That was a good ending!

chef · Post by **chef** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:16 pm

Riiiiiight, Mike. That's not what your wife says.

Men and women's comforts are not that far removed from each other even though we think/behave so differently.

Another comfort: Spending time with my grandsons and family. I have started having date afternoons with my oldest grandson, doing fun stuff: going to get ice-cream, going to a great bookstore for a book, checking out the unusual, interesting pets at our favorite pet store, playing Goofy Golf, etc. I send gifts and write to my grandson in Ohio frequently. Love those boys.

Vicki

What comforts you? What stresses you?

What comforts you? What stresses you?

De'ja' Vu: Harlan Ellison's "Boy and His Dog"