When was the last time you really, truly, stepped out of your comfort zone? Not just by going to a different place for lunch or wearing red where you might otherwise stick to black or white. I mean genuinely exploring a world beyond your boundaries, doing something that scares you just because you can. And because, if you don’t, your comfort zone starts to look really rather dull.

Exploring the world beyond this zone is the essence at the heart of a collection of essays published in partnership between Jigsaw and Sonder & Tell entitled, of course, Comfort Zones. The power of the partnership ensured that all profits from the sale of the book went straight to the charity Women for Women International that has, since 1993, supported women who are survivors of wars around the world.

The brief for the essays, penned by 28 different female writers, was simple: look beyond the structures of how you usually write and focus on a topic you wouldn’t otherwise explore. The essays that were published as a result are incredibly vulnerable, personal accounts of everything from success to parenthood, narcissism and being alone. They are ultimately about being comfortable being uncomfortable.

The founders of Sonder & Tell Kate Hamilton and Emily Ames wanted writers to "think about their usual subject matter and then work against it." The team asked each writer, including journalists like Pandora Sykes, Daisy Buchanan and Elizabeth Day, to be really, truly vulnerable. And, as the brilliant storyteller Brené Brown has said, you can't show courage without vulnerability. 

Visit Jigsaw's website to find out more.