Dear friends and fellow bloggers,
My apologies for being absent for a while. I've been busy with a tremendous amount of work (which paid off very well) and I've also been in a weird funk that I'm slowly getting out of.
For the past two months or so, I've been struggling with insomnia. I go to bed at 11pm or 12am every night, feeling tired and ready for the magical embrace of my comfy pillow. However, each night I find myself awake for hours and fall asleep around 4am. It makes me mad, because I'm wasting so many hours. I could be working, but I'm too tired to do that. But apparently, not tired enough to close my eyes and drift off into the dreamland. The thing is, I can't seem to shut my mind off. It's like I'm going for the gold medal in a "Constant Thinking Marathon". And let me tell you... I'm winning!
I feel like there's something bothering me, but I don't know what. Technically, there's nothing I should be worried about. Life is good. Everyone around me is healthy, happy, I have a good job, there should be nothing stressing me out. But something clearly is. Otherwise... what the heck is going on?
I thought it was because of my routine. I'm a translator, which means I spend most of my days in front of a computer screen, translating documents, movies or just about anything else. But I love my job and all my hard work has paid off (I was offered a promotion!). And it's not like I work so much I don't see the daylight...
Another thing (not sure if related to my insomnia or my funk), lately I've been getting these weird cravings. By that I usually mean food wise. But not this time. One day I suddenly had the urge to read a book. It might sound silly, but it's been a while since I last read a book and all of a sudden I wanted to read one. Not just wanted... I had to. So I went to the bookstore and, being the little psycho that I am, bought not 1 but 6! books.
Most of them are collections of mystery stories by Edgar Allan Poe, which I'm totally obsessed with. So that week was the week of books. I read 3 in 2 days. Safe to say I didn't do much else and probably looked like an addict, getting my daily dose of mystery. But my needs were satisfied and I felt at peace.
Much to my surprise, the weird cravings did not end with that. The next one was the sudden urge to go to a forest. I genuinely just wanted to be in the woods and spend the day just walking around and picking mushrooms. I hate mushrooms, but picking them is a fun activity for me. Thankfully, I have a great, supporting family and friends who go along with my ideas. It didn't take long to gather a car full of people and off to the woods we went.
The day went by so fast! Fresh air, nature, woods, mushrooms, thousand cobwebs in my hair, scratched legs, fights with tree branches and a squirrel... It was all worth it. Not only did we get buckets full of mushrooms, but that night I slept better than ever.
Now I'm slowly managing my sleep. It's still not ok, but I'm getting there, as my weird cravings continue to grow. (This week I insisted on going to a concert. So... my next Saturday is all planned up). I truly hope my family can bare with me for a little longer, while I try to figure what's wrong with me... Good luck to all of us.
What have you all been up to? I'm gonna dedicate a day to read all your blogs. Maybe someone has been craving weird things too. I'd love to hear about them. In the meantime, I have some TV series to translate.
Take care.
-B-
A lot of the raccoons in your background are sleeping, hope you can catch some zzz's, too!!
ReplyDeleteThose raccoons might have inspired me! I've been sleeping a lot better!
DeleteIs it possible that you're eating or drinking something before bedtime that keeps you awake? Perhaps you need me to sing a lullaby to you.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie, I would absolutely love that!
DeleteYou poor thing. Insomnia is the pits. Since your day in the woods was followed by a night of better sleeping, maybe you need to make a point of getting outside for a walk every day. The fresh air and touch of exercise could be just what you need. And make sure you shut off that computer at least an hour before you're ready to go to bed. Give your mind a chance to slow down a bit. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI love all of your raccoons. :)
That's exactly what I've been doing. And fresh air helps a lot! I've slowly conquered my insomnia. And thank you! Those raccoons keep me inspired :)
DeleteI feel you about the insomnia... my goodness it is a tough thing to deal with. After losing my best friend 'him' ... I rarely slept for more than an hour here or there. I now sleep about 3 hours before waking up which is much better but getting there can be tough. When I took early evening walks, it really helped me to sleep a bit better at night xox
ReplyDeleteThank you for you very sweet comment, I was touched..we all have rough patches in life, sometimes we handle them better than others... as I am learning about myself. I am glad to be back to blogging and catching up with everyone xox <3
Insomnia is no joke. It almost drove me insane. But I'm slowly getting my sleep back on track. I'm glad you're back! :)
DeleteDear Baiba, so much to respond to in your posting! First, it's been several weeks now since this was posted, so are you sleeping better--no more insomnia????? And are you still feeling the cravings?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that one thing that helps with sleeplessness is exercise. I mean walking two or three miles a day or doing a DVD for 30 to 60 minutes of yoga. Exercises works the muscles in our body and then they want to relax into sleep at night. You probably have already tried this.
As to the cravings. Maybe you just are in a phase where life is offering you so many possibilities and you want to explore the adventure of living.
Finally, congratulations on the promotion!!! I've always known you were a winner!!!!!!!! Peace today and always.