Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Comfort of the Familiar and the Fear of the Unknown

Last weekend, while visiting my daughter in Florida, we went to see the new movie Deliver Me From Nowhere – a film about Bruce Springsteen and the making of his Nebraska album.

What made the experience so special wasn’t just the music or the story. It was the setting.

Much of the film was shot in our hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey, the very place where I live, work, and walk the boardwalk almost daily. I even remember seeing the movie crews there months ago and watching them film.  It was all very exciting.

As we sat in a movie theater hundreds of miles away in Orlando, watching scenes unfold in deeply familiar places – the boardwalk, the beach, our favorite breakfast spot – it felt both grounding and surreal.  My daughter and I were giddy.

It was our small town on the big screen. Our home. Our comfort zone.
And in that moment, I felt the unmistakable warmth of familiarity.

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The Magic (and Safety) of the Familiar

There’s something deeply comforting about seeing pieces of your world reflected back to you, especially when you’re far away from it.

The smell of salt air. The creak of the boardwalk. The counter at Frank’s Deli.

We’re drawn to what feels known because it anchors us.

Familiarity gives us a sense of belonging and identity — “This is my place. These are my people.  This is my home.”

It makes life feel manageable, predictable, and safe.

That’s why even when life calls us to change, so many of us hold on to what we know — the routines, the relationships, even the thought patterns that feel like “home,” whether or not they’re truly serving us anymore.

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The Fear of the Unknown

Change – like divorce, relocation, or starting over, pulls us out of the familiar and into the uncertain.

It’s uncomfortable. Sometimes terrifying.

Even if the old life was painful or limiting, it was known.

The unknown, on the other hand, feels like stepping off the boardwalk and into an uncharted ocean.

We wonder:

• What if I can’t handle it?
• What if I regret this?
• What if I never find solid ground again?

That fear is natural. The human brain equates predictability with safety. So when life invites us into new territory, it can feel like losing our footing — even when the next step is leading us somewhere better.

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Deliver Me from Nowhere

As I watched Deliver Me From Nowhere, the title itself struck me — not just as a lyric or a movie name, but as a plea.

Because so often, that’s what we’re really asking for in moments of change:

Deliver me from this in-between place.
Deliver me from the limbo between what was and what’s next.
Deliver me from nowhere.

It’s that suspended space between the comfort of the familiar and the fear of what comes next.  A space many of my clients know all too well when navigating divorce or major transitions.  I call it “Divorce Purgatory”.

It’s disorienting, but it’s also the birthplace of transformation.

Finding New Comfort in the Unknown

Sitting in that Florida theater, many miles away from my little seaside hometown, I realized something profound:

Familiarity doesn’t live in geography — it lives in us.
It’s in our memories, our values, and the people we love.

And when we can carry that sense of self, that inner “home”, into the unknown, it becomes less frightening.

The unfamiliar stops feeling like exile and starts feeling like expansion.

Because comfort isn’t about staying where you are.
True comfort is about trusting yourself enough to step forward to explore, to evolve, to begin again.

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A Gentle Reminder

If you’re standing at a crossroads, feeling torn between the comfort of what you know and the uncertainty of what comes next, remember this:

 You don’t have to leap — just take one small step.
 You don’t have to have all the answers — just trust that clarity will come.
 You don’t have to do it alone — help is here.

When we’re willing to leave “nowhere,” we open ourselves to somewhere new.
And that’s where growth, peace, and purpose begin.

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