What Comfort Means to Me, Research Paper Example

The experience of physical comfort is inexorably tied to that of emotional comfort because every association that I make with being comfortable is linked to emotional experiences.  This works on multiple levels; for example, I experience comfort from a warm blanket and a soft pillow when I sleep at night because it keeps me warm.  However, part of my enjoyment of these nighttime comforts stem from the emotional associations that I have with being secure and safe under my warm blanket.  Emotionally, I can connect these material items with memories of being a child cared for by my parents and tucked in at night.  At an even deeper level, the blanket and the pillow symbolize the financial security that I have achieved by being able to possess such material goods.  They may seem simple, but my knowledge that other people do not have blankets and pillows when they go to sleep at night lends them deeper meaning.

As such, these basic items are connected with the security I receive from knowing that I have a roof over my head and a door to shut against the night.  These items also provide emotional and physical comfort on an aesthetic level.  I may not be warmer with a clean blanket and a soft, sweet-smelling pillow, but the enjoyment that I experience from these material comforts is increased exponentially with their newness and my perception of their level of luxury.  This may be because I make an emotional connection between the quality of my bed linens and my ability to have provided such things for myself through hard work and the ability to put aside money to buy luxurious items.

It is infinitely comforting to know that I have a warm and secure place to sleep at night.  My level of comfort is increased when I use linens and pillows that are clean and of high quality.  This is due to the emotional linkages I’ve formed with my childhood memories and my aspirations towards upward mobility, demonstrating the intricate ways that my perception of comfort are connected to aspects of my physical and emotional self.