“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

We all have comfort zones – the familiar rhythms, the safe habits, the things we can rely on to feel steady and secure. They’re not bad; in fact, they can give us rest and stability. There is a reason they are called COMFORT zones. It is comfortable and comforting. However, staying there too long can also mean staying small, becoming stagnant. Growth almost always requires some discomfort.

Just in the last couple of days I was reminded of this truth in two very different ways. They first was my artwork. I have been an artist my entire life. I became a “professional” (began selling my work) as a teenager. I specialized in realistic portraits of people’s pets and livestock. When I had my twins all artwork took a back burner as I tried to find my balance between homesteading, dairy farming, motherhood and staying healthy and sane.

Yesterday, I decided to paint for the first time in years. My go-to move is to find or take a physical picture of what I am going to draw or paint and then carefully sketch it out in detail before I painstakingly color or paint it within those lines. I don’t paint the background and blocks of color and then layer in the details like a lot of artists. I have always done my art a section at a time with completely finished details as I move along, finishing my subject first and then adding the background last, filling in around my subject. That is where I am comfortable.

However, in this instance what I want to paint is just a vague idea in my head that has been there for years and I have never been able to find a photo or illustration or anything even close to what I want. I have never just painted something without looking at something else for inspiration and detail. I have also never painted on a canvas as large as the one I chose for this project. It might seem silly but that big, blank canvas was intimidating me and I had no idea where to start. I tried to just skip step one (finding a photo) and start with step 2 (sketching). But it felt impossible. How can I sketch something that I can’t see?

I decided to challenge myself to try something completely new. Something that felt risky for me. And honestly, very uncomfortable. I wanted to shy away from the discomfort, but instead I leaned into it. I grabbed my paints and set that huge, white canvas on the easel. Rather than careful application of perfectly detailed paint, I just started slapping color on it, blending the colors directly on the canvas. Once I pushed past that discomfort, it was kind of liberating. By challenging myself, I may discover new depths of what I can accomplish. Or maybe it will turn out terrible but you know what? I can just keep slapping new layers of paint on there until I like it. It might take weeks, months, even years to finish the painting, but I think it will be an interesting journey.

The other way I was reminded of stepping out of my comfort zone was with my health. As some of you already know, I was diagnosed with Alpha Gal syndrome this year. I have been avoiding eating red meats and getting along fine for the most part (besides missing out on some really good smoked ham here and BBQ brisket there) but recently I have been getting more sensitive. My food can’t even be exposed to the smoke coming off of that smoked ham. And I may be starting to become sensitive to dairy. Now look, I AM getting pretty tired of chicken, but the no red meat thing was doable. However, I NEED my milk and cheese.

According to mainstream doctors, the only thing to do for Alpha Gal is to avoid eating the foods that you react to. However, I kept hearing from different sources that there were people who had had Alpha Gal for years who were getting acupuncture treatment that allowed them to eat red meat again. I shrugged it off as kooky. How could acupuncture affect a food allergy brought on by a tick bite? Just silly if you ask me. Waste of money. Scam.

But then people I know personally told me it worked for them. Hmm. Still skeptical but harder to brush off as kooky. And I really need my dairy. Acupuncture is definitely outside of my comfort zone but…do I want to be comfortable being sick? So, today I called and scheduled an appointment with a chiropractor practiced in treating Alpha Gal with acupuncture. I NEVER thought I would do something like that. I honestly still expect that I will be dropping a huge amount of money for nothing but what if? What if stepping out of that comfort zone will show me something that feels impossible is possible?

I don’t know the outcome of either of these journeys yet. I may be wasting my money on this treatment and my painting may never look the way I envision. However, stepping beyond comfort isn’t about guarantees – it’s about growth. It’s not about proving strength; it’s about discovering it. And who knows, on the other side of the discomfort, you may just find a masterpiece waiting.