Book Review: The Comfort Crisis

Welcome to a new book review from my blog. I'll share what I took away from the book with a quote that stood out to me. The quote is from the book The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, which says:

Frankly speaking, I am not shocked by such a statement from the author because, growing up as a kid in Nigeria, I have heard things like that said so many times. It could be in a different way or with the use of different words, but it all boils down to the same idea: too much of anything is not good. This time it is from Michael Easter, who is saying that being too comfortable is also a form of discomfort.

The book describes how the evolution of the world has made things a whole lot better. You need food; you can simply order. You need protection from heat on a sunny day; you have your air conditioning- just switch it on. You want something to keep you entertained or distract you from the time being; you have streaming services: Netflix, Prime Video, or YouTube. There is so much being done for us today, thanks to the advancement in technology. We do not have to live in the past, where the only means of communication was through the use of the post office, while waiting for our letters to arrive at their given destination, or, let me be fictional a little bit by going the extra mile when I say we do not have to wait for an owl to deliver the letter like in the Harry Potter books and movies. Although a part of my mind still ponders from time to time what those times actually looked like. I was not privileged to be in the world when sending letters was a thing; rather,r I came into existence during the GSM bubble. Then, to crown it all, I am currently living through the social media era why almost everything is online, and you can easily send a message to anyone, thanks to the dot-com bubble and internet sensation.

Here, the author, Michael Easter, chooses to share his message: he speaks to the context that these comforts that are now present due to advancement in tech are all good, but the discomfort comes in when there is a detour. Being used to such comfort can be unbearable for one when they lose it, even for a slight second. It is like taking candy from a baby, and immediately they cry out with an outburst of noise. They were used to the sweetness, ss which was a form of comfort to their mouth at the moment, until you took it from them; hence the reason for the outburst of noise and tears.

The difficult task which were once things we could do easily in the past now become things you cannot stand a chance of doing anymore. Therefore, every other thing becomes something that can be postponed or something that can be placed on hold. Is it the workout you were once consistent with that is now a thing of the past since you got that new TV? Or is it that the fast internet we experience today under the canopy of 5G has made it unbearable for us to endure anything less or even cope with a random discomfort with the internet? For this, I am super guilty.

Things get better as the world goes on, but we should also learn that a minor discomfort here and there is a part of life, and we should develop a system for dealing with it as well.

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