Episode Notes
This week we’re looking at both a childhood and adult memory, between which is a comparison trap and the growing awareness of it. Both moments are set in the same place—among the display rooms of Ikea.
This episode and poem explore how easy it is to construct caricatures or imaginary people from our surroundings who are either better or less than ourselves (particularly the former). There is a delicate balance here between imagining (and moving toward) the life you want to live and romanticizing a perfect version that may never exist. This dynamic can further trap us into a pit of forgetting to be grateful for what’s in front of us, alongside recognizing those things we and others truly don’t have access to (due to financial reasons, discrimination, or other). This is a rich, deep topic and we hope you enjoy the episode! 
Here's an excerpt of the poem:
Crack open your eyes now. Taste
lingonberry-soaked soft serve cupped by cold fingers.
Argumentative. Drowsy eyes. Stooped, sore neck.
Gaze down. Notice the arrows shiver.
Blink. You’ve been asleep for a long time.
They’re not real. They’re cast from a projector concealed
in the ceiling. Wander to display windows. They’re balconies of
pale brick walls closer than any house is allowed to be built.
Silly. The pre-constructed persona people
with matching puppies from 101 Dalmatians live here, in Ikea.
Listen to this week's episode to hear the full poem! If you’d like to share your moment or memory on the podcast, please head to tinyurl.com/bravingthewaves.

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