My daughter went to brunch with her friends. The waitperson drop a tray of glasses right next to me daughter. She ended up covered in glass.

Yeah.

I am grateful that she only had one tiny scratch. I am grateful that the staff at the restaurant was courteous, took the incident very seriously, and did everything possible to make sure that she was Ok, and foisted phone numbers of all the restaurant management in case she was seriously hurt. I am grateful that apparently, my daughter remained calm during the incident. I am most grateful that I wasn’t there, because I would have freaked out.

My prompt for this week is COMFORT. It was used in the books I’m reading in the following ways:

  1. Everyone could do with a crumb of comfort occasionally. Beth Morrey
  2. Many people, Nick Gray points out, just aren’t comfortable in museums. Rob Walker
  3. Now that my children are grown, friends are the ones I turn to for laughter and comfort. Caroline Kennedy
  4. He and his family currently enjoyed an enviable position that had a degree of social prominence and comfort to which he could not otherwise have aspired. Sarah Rose
  5. Pedion tou Areos was becoming like a new home to people: shoes lined up next to the blankets and tents, clothes hanging from trees, games of cards, and music and singing, and although I should have found some comfort in this, instead I felt suffocated by these glimmering remnants of an old life. Christy Lefteri
  6. I felt Theresa was giving people the gift of comfort and peace. Helen Ellis
  7. Although these spaces were freezing in winter- even with a stove- and stifling in summer, the idealistic tenants cared more about light, preferably northern, than comfort and convenience. Deborah Davis
  8. People found comfort in rituals. Jennifer Close

Here’s how I’m going to think about comfort

  1. other than the obvious, what’s the difference between comfort and comfortable?
  2. how important is comfort in day to day life
  3. why do we find comfort in rituals?
  4. What is the difference between a comfort and a necessity?
  5. If we don’t find comfort with a partner or a friend or a family member, is the relationship worth having? 
Song of Solomon 2:5 (excerpt)
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Song-of-Solomon-2-5/


As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. 
His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. 
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 
The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

41 thoughts on “Gratitude and Mindfulness: 7/23/22”

  1. I’m glad your daughter is okay and that the restaurant was caring and vigilant about the situation. I was a server/bartender/caterer for years through school and beyond and understand that things happen. the difference is in how the venue reacts and takes care of the guest. this one certainly did it right

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. Yikes! Thank goodness your daughter is ok! It’s unnerving how going to brunch suddenly became the scene of an accident zone!
    In regard to the difference between comfort and comfortable? I’m taking a guess… Comfort to me is a state of being. A feeling deep inside that makes you feel good. (That AHHHH kind of internal satisfaction).
    Comfortable, on the other hand is external. If I’m buying a new chair and I sit down, I need back support to be comfortable. Last night I tossed and turned because I couldn’t find that sweet spot and feel comfortable enough to relax and fall asleep.
    Then again, if I walked into a gathering and there was large group of thugs with guns I’d feel really uncomfortable too. So scratch the the internal, external theory. You’ve got me. Perhaps comfortable is internal AND external. I need another cup of half caff to figure this out… why? Because I was uncomfortable and didn’t sleep much last night so I’m not wide awake enough yet to feel comfort in my answer to you! 😉😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. We recently dined at an upscale restaurant while visiting Greenville, SC and one of the staff dropped a tray of wine glasses right beside my husband. Fortunately, he was not the brunt of any glass shards or cuts. They fell over themselves trying to make sure he was okay, and all was well. They wound up comping us a delicious dessert to say sorry and thank you for not making a fuss. I felt sorry for the poor girl who dropped the tray, she seemed so upset. We called her over and tried to reassure her all was well and to not let this ruin her evening. She smiled and seemed so grateful ~ it was truly an accident.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. A lovely post, LA. Super glad your daughter is okay, and am also glad to hear that the restaurant took the appropriate actions, and were considerate. Super helpful. I’ve dropped trays like that before. Can be scary.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Glad your daughter is ok. I would have freaked out as well! I tend to think of comfort in terms of inner well-being. Something provided but not seen. Comfortable makes me think of the physical, in the moment. Maybe still too obvious?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Comfort–what needs to be given to someone who has a tray of glasses dropped next to them and to the the highly embarrassed server who accidentally dropped them.
    Comfortable–the feeling you have when you are tucked away safely at home with your chosen drink and a good book.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. So glad your daughter wasn’t hurt and remained calm. And wonderful that the staff took everything seriously and treated her so well.
    As far as comfort and comfortable go. I think as comfort as a warm hug, gentle, soothing words and comfortable as the feeling you have when at your friend’s house sitting on the couch and chatting.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Glad the restaurant comped their meals. That’s the classy and proper thing to do.

    I’ll take a stab at one of your questions:
    Why do we find comfort in rituals? – I suspect because they give us a small sense of control over an otherwise chaotic world.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  14. Comfortable is when my jeans aren’t too tight and my shoes fit. Comforting is a hug from one of my grand babies, my sister stopping by for a coffee, oh and really soft sheets! So happy and comforted that your daughter is okay and was treated so kindly by the staff. They reacted appropriately! Hugs, C

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s