Pithy Quote: Don’t Go Back to Sleep
Friday, June 11th, 2010.
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Sleep Mower — Somnambulist Series
Copyright © 2009 Steve Widoff
The somnambulistic series is a fictitious look at sleepwalkers.
Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and
perform activities that are usually performed during the day.
These activities can be as benign as sitting up in bed, walking to the bathroom and cleaning,
or as hazardous as cooking, driving, extremely violent gestures, grabbing at hallucinated objects or even homicide.
Steve Widoff, Heartstormer
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Don’t Go Back to Sleep
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the door sill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Rumi
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I am fascinated by what it takes to stay awake in difficult times. I marvel at what we all do in times of transition — how we resist, and how we surrender; how we stay stuck; and how we grow. Since my first major open experience — my divorce — I have been an observer and confidante of others as they engage with the forces of their own suffering. I have made note of how the fiasco and failure visit each one of us, as if they were written into the job descriptions of being human. I have seen people crumble in times of trouble, lose their spirit, and never fully recover. I have seen others protect themselves fiercely from any kind of change, until they are living a half life, safe yet stunted,
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But I have seen another way to deal with a fearful change or a painful loss. I call this other way the Phoenix Process — named for the mythological phoenix bird who remains awake through the fires of change, risen from the ashes of death, and is reborn into the his most vibrant and enlightened self. For now, we only need to understand it as an alternative to going back to sleep.
Elizabeth Lesser from Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow
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