Do you need a little comfort today? Come sit with me.

A cozy story and gentle reflection to help you slow down, feel comforted, and settle your nervous system.

In this Let’s Talk Lavender episode, you are invited into a softer space: home, comfort, connection, quiet listening, and a few minutes away from the noise of the day.

Listen when you feel overstimulated, tired, emotionally bruised, or in need of something warm and steady.

Let’s Talk Lavender is a calm storytelling podcast for stillness, softness, and the self beneath the noise.

Stillness. Story. Self.

Subscribe for gentle stories, calming reflections, cozy listening, and quiet support.

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Let’s Talk Lavender is gentle, warm company for knitters, stitchers, and creative crafters. Bring your project, contemplate life, and settle into calm companionship. You are not alone. We are a community of crafters finding stillness, story, and self together.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Oh good, you're here. Let's talk lavender. The weather has been dreary lately. And this morning I was thinking about comfort. Hmm comfort not as a noun, but more as a verb, an action. To comfort, to be comforted. I mean, is there really any better feeling than being comforted in some way? Hmm. Whether we do it for ourselves or for someone else. Nothing makes things better than being comforted. And no one was better at this than my grandmother. Quick story. I remember being around nine or ten and being bored or unhappy about something. And she made me a cup of tea. I watched her as she moved around the kitchen slowly. The kettle was boiling, and she snapped open the plastic jar of homemade cookies that she kept on a low shelf. She put two molasses cookies on a saucer and poured the hot water over the teabag in my mug. The steam fogging up her small square glasses balanced on the end of her nose. She almost always wore a wrap sweater folded about her large bosom, with a kleenex peeking out of a sleeve, ready for emergencies. She added a splash of milk from the bottle in the fridge, lifted the tea bag out with a teaspoon, gave it a final squeeze, and placed it on a spoon rest next to the stove. I was sitting opposite her at a small wooden table in the corner of the old fashioned Formica kitchen. She carefully placed the mug in front of me, and then the cookies, and then eased herself into the chair opposite me. She seemed relieved to be off her feet, as if they were tired or causing her pain. She sighed, looked at me and said Oh no, wait, we're missing the most important part. She heaved herself up with a grunt, and standing on her toes, reached up to the highest shelf by the stove, and retrieved a glass mason jar with a screw-top lid. Aha, she said, and with a flourish placed the jar on the table in front of me. While she got me a spoon behind her, I unscrewed the sticky lid and marveled at the thick, sweet condensed milk pooled in the jar. There was easily at least two cans of it in this jar, and I had never seen so much sugary deliciousness. Go on, she said. Put in as much as you need to. Sometimes we need some extra sweetness to make the day go better. I scooped two heaped spoons into the hot tea and stirred it slowly. She sat opposite me, watching me with pleasure. I could feel her approval and indulgence thick in the air. I took a small sip, smiled at her, and nodded. She nodded back and said, maybe just a little bit more. And so we sat in contented silence as I drank my tooth-achingly sweet tea that comforted me like nothing else had that day. It was made with care and offered with a secret indulgence my mother would never have approved of a true comfort. Can you recall a time as a child when someone offered you a deeply appreciated comfort? Even though it was just something small and maybe even insignificant. But it's something you never forgot. And remember with gratitude. Let's just take a moment to remember one of those small but life-changing comforts and be grateful to the person for that. Let's send them a small thank you into the universe if they're no longer with us. And if they are, maybe today reach out and say Today I was reminded when you did ABC when I was little, and I never forgot it. Thank you. We all want to make a difference to someone's life. And what a gift if someone tells us that we did. Especially if it's years later and they still remember it. That seems to make it all the more special. Comfort comfort comfort food. Let's talk about comfort food for a minute. So so many restaurants these days advertise or sell comfort food, which is usually mac and cheese or some sort of stewy heavy, hearty dish. But that's not really what comfort food is at all, is it? Comfort food brings us comfort, which means it's an emotional experience. Of course it tastes good, but a lot of food tastes good to us. Usually fatty, salty, sweet. But comfort food is different. It makes us feel emotionally fulfilled, connected in some way. Identifying what our comfort foods are individually can be a huge source of pleasure for us. Another word for comfort food could be nostalgic food. Often it will be a food from your childhood or from a particularly happy time in your life, and a sense of taste transports you back to the feeling of safety or pleasure or happiness from that time. I was reminded of this when I spent some time alone and had to confess to a friend that my eating habits consisted of many an evening meal of fish sticks and ketchup. A personal favorite. This to me is comfort food. Of course, it's typically given to young children, and I associate their time of my life with love and nurturing. And to this day, I've never met a fish stick that I don't love. Of course, accompanied by terrible ketchup. Preferably the cheap stuff, not the good stuff. What are your comfort foods? And more importantly, when last did you have some? When last did you feed your soul like that? Because that's what comfort food does. It feeds your soul. It doesn't have to be sweet, and it should genuinely give you comfort. Maybe you knew someone who you loved and who made you a particular type of food or even just served you something, and when you eat that, you're reminded of them and the love that was shared between you. So today you can remind yourself of feeling loved and connected by helping yourself to a food from your childhood or from that special person or that special time of your life. Enjoy it and remember. And then you can also choose to make and create those connections for others. Your family, your friends, make a special dish that will become their comfort food in the future. And when they eat it, they will be reminded of your love for them, and that you took care in feeding them. And if all else fails, fill a jar with condensed milk, hide it away, and then spoon it generously and often into cups to heal broken hearts, disappointments, general miseries, and shine a little sweet love on those you love, and of course, on to yourself. Alright, love. Let me know how you're doing. Have a great day.