Seeking Comfort in the Unchanging: To Feel Good Is a Human Need We Must Cherish

Abstract

In Newton Hawker Centre, there is a feeling I am unable to shake, a feeling of familiarity. Despite the tempting diversity of food stalls around me, I am pulled back to the same spot, the same meal. It is not that I do not love variety or the possibility of trying something new; it is that, in this crazy, hectic world, there is something so comforting about returning to something familiar. It is as though, in those instances of sitting in front of a steaming hot bowl of laksa or biting into the perfect satay, I am grounding myself in something that feels safe, stable, and permanent.