We all need our security blankets

Tonight I watched the Peanuts special called "Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown," and like all the cute cartoons they dish out over the holidays, I loved it.

Charles Shultz was a genius. If you've never seen the show, when adorable Linus is told his grandmother will take his security blanket away on her visit next week, he tries to do without it. But it turns him into an ogre.

"That old blanket sucked out my fears and frustrations," Linus said.

I have some things that do that. I'll bet we all do - especially those of us who live alone.

Charlie Brown captured it perfectly while talking to Lucy. "If you had a blanket maybe you wouldn't be so crabby."

Sometimes our security blankets are material objects - a special stuffed animal, a chair your grandmother rocked you to sleep in or a sweater an ex gave you. They are things that bring comfort. 

One of mine is a key chain I've had since not long after I started driving. It's old and bent, but has kept me safe over the years. I feel strange driving without it.

The Christmas decorations I've collected throughout my life are another treasured security blanket. I panicked on Sunday when one of the big plastic boxes was missing. The thought stuck in my head that I had left it in my ex's attic buried under camping gear he never used, the boxes for every computer doodad he's ever owned and various random shit no one will ever need. I didn't want to ask him for it and obsessed about it all week. The only other hope was finding it in my small storage unit. I was afraid to look, but I retrieved it today. I would've sweated losing that blanket.  

Sometimes our security blankets are people. A friend or lover that makes you feel secure and comfortable like an old pair of jeans. But sometimes those old jeans - or relationships - outlive their good.

When Linus' friends laughed at him holding his blanket again, he put them in their places. "Who among you doesn't have an insecurity?"

Linus is right.

We'll all let go of our security blankets when - and if - we're ready. It's up to us to decide.

Love to the single girls,
Addison

P.S. For anyone who wants the authentic Linus security blanket in the pic, they are in stores now.