Good sleep is like sex: it's not important unless you aren't getting any.
Recall a time in your own memory when you couldn't get enough sleep... hopefully it wasn't last night. Remember the frustration while trying? Remember staring at the clock and dreading the alarm? Remember blurry days of headaches, sluggishness, and dozing off? Shitty...
My time living on a little boat anchored in exposed places gave me a deeper appreciation of good sleep. Whatever the ocean was doing dictated whether or not I slept: it was out of my control. If the sea was rough, and the boat swung about erratically, there was little chance of getting any sleep. I couldn't read because it would make me more nauseous. Sometimes I'd swim or row myself ashore and pass out on the beach, but usually I'd just spend the night lying on the floor of the boat (the coolest and calmest spot!) yet feeling far from it.
The sea state wasn't the only thing that robbed me of sleep on my boat trip. At different times high winds, electrical storms, general uncertainty, and the fear of midnight marauders kept me up. Though I don't claim anything like a true appreciation of HUNGER, there were a few nights when feeling starved and not knowing where my next meal would come from kept me up. I think that's part of the reason I'm so gung ho about stockpiling food at the moment.
I don't know real hunger because on that trip there was always the safety net of throwing in the towel, ditching the boat, crying for help from parents and friends, and heading back to the good ol' USA. No matter how bad it got, there was always another option. No matter how RESTLESS I became, in the back of my mind there was always a way out.
Unfortunately, people in real dire straits don't have the luxury of good sleep or additional options. I look at the growing poverty and uncertainty here in the USA and I realize most Americans don't have a way out of the sleep-depriving conditions they're experiencing. Lost jobs, lost homes, lost futures, unpayable bills, legal troubles, sick kids, growing crime, and on and on...
Right now, 77% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and are one personal setback away from deeper suffering. In this environment, one little snafu can sink a person deeper in debt with no reasonable way of repaying it.
Fortunately, tonight I slept well until 3 a.m. when I found myself wide awake and angry. I awoke from a rare Zombie warfare dream. I was one of many people stuck in a city overrun by hordes of bloodthirsty subhuman monsters. For some reason, spraypaint was very useful in killing them. At one point the drama subsided and we survivors decided to have movie night. All Hell broke loose when flaming zombies broke through defenses and ran through the crowded theater... not good not good.
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| Ummm, NO. How about PLAN C instead?!? |
The dominant fear? Sure: Zombies. Bottom line, whether they admit it or not, most people hardly know and do not trust their neighbors. They are also, whether they admit it or not, nervous about an extremely uncertain future. One way to deal with these fears is to embody them in a mythical creature. This is why post-apocalyptic zombie movies have been so popular lately... the concept of uncontrollable, ruthless consumers resonates with real world fears.
After all, what is a zombie if not a sleep-deprived, unhealthy, disheveled, disenfranchised, and discontent consumer?! Sure they stumble around practicing cannibalism, but how many wouldn't rather have a delicious, malnutritious fast food hamburger...
The irony of our current situation is that unchecked desires for frivolous luxuries are taking away the true, free, and easy luxuries offered by righteous living. All the greedy assholes out there are officially ruining it for the rest of humanity, both present and future.
A secure environment. A trustworthy society. Good friends. Good times... and above all else, Good sleep: these are the truly important things. Could someone tell that to the greedy dipshits digging our mass graves?!
In these uncertain times, one thing is certain: from the moment their whole scheme starts unraveling until they enter the Big Sleep, those responsible won't catch hardly a wink. Their own consciences will guarantee that. All the disenfranchised consumers (zombies!) will guarantee that.
So, dear reader, I implore you this: if you one day find yourself looking like a zombie, please make an effort to only eat the brains responsible for our cluster fuck. Don't take your frustrations out on your fellow zombies. We're all in this together.
Me? My conscience is clean. Til' the day I die I'll sleep like a baby... except, of course, when I'm WIDE AWAKE.
PEACE.