Dirtbag Writer

The Pleasures of Insomina

Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by Writer in On Living

In college I prided myself with being able to function highly on very little or no sleep at all. Barenaked Ladies’ Who Needs Sleep? was my mantra for most of those years.

Who needs sleep?
well you’re never gonna get it

In my twenties I delighted in the fact that I could sleep just about anywhere. I slept for nearly a year and a half without a bed – always getting by with very little. I tried my hands at vagabonding after dropping out of a PhD program in Psychology, ditching my apartment, selling most of my worldly positions, and traveling through Central America. Returning home I spent the summer crashing on friends couches, in parking lots in the back of Rubes, and in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City.

Who needs sleep?
tell me what’s that for

One of my favorite homeless memories is partying late one night after work during the Blues festival at Snowbird resort and just heading up the mountain and finding a comfy spot to spend the night. I woke body next to the Earth and walked down the mountain already dressed for work.

Eventually lack of a home got, well, old. I found the cheapest, tiniest studio apartment I could find and made a bed of blankets and a therm-a-rest in the corner. I stayed here until I could save enough money to head out onto the open road again.

Then I met VanMan and we slept all over town in that van. We spent many nights together in a tent and slept in my own backyard when the heat of summer made my floor side bed of a pile of blankets simply unbearable.

Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you’re getting
There’s a guy who’s been awake
since the Second World War

By the time I hit my thirties – I was rigid and unyielding. The 9 to 5 life I had chosen made me inflexible and dependent on a mattress and 8-10 hours of solid, unadulterated sleep.

My hands are locked up tight in fists
My mind is racing, filled with lists
of things to do and things I’ve done
Another sleepless night’s begun

Two months into my new lifestyle – I can’t sleep, I have all this energy. I am constantly breaking the night. I wake early with all these ideas and dreams and zest for life. I no longer experience my mid-afternoon slump. I google cures for insomnia, fear my imminent breakdown – could I be manic? I blame all these life changes and fears and stress and ughhh. But it finally just dawned on my – it appears I just may be suffering from one serious case of STOKE.

hala hala hala

Tags: Changes, Daily Life