I’m currently reading ‘My Year Of Rest And Relaxation’ by Ottessa Moshfegh, a novel about a young woman who decides to drop out of society and sleep for a year. It’s an enticing concept, especially for gentlemen of a certain age like me who share a house with three crazy teenagers and an even crazier border terrier. Fionnuala and I never seem to get enough sleep.
As we emerge out of lockdown, the pace of life is slowly beginning to grind up through the gears again. The diary is filling up and opportunities to lounge around on the sofa watching Netflix are becoming rarer and rarer. And when I do I increasingly find my eyelids closing as I succumb to the temptation of the afternoon nap. I convince myself I’m just resting my eyes and then…bam…a whole hour has passed.
My wife and kids have taken great delight in this turn of events. Rebecca openly calls me ‘old man’ now without a hint of irony while Fionnuala and I have regressed to a guerilla war of filming each other asleep and then gleefully sharing the horrific content. The sight of me drooling on a cushion while snoring like a congested pig is not a pretty sight and would ruin my carefully cultivated online persona in a nanosecond if it ever saw the light of day.
Rest? Relaxation? I’m not so sure if it’s that, more grabbing whatever shuteye I can as I struggle to keep up with the demands of modern life. I’m not dropping out like the character in the book, more recharging the batteries in order to dive back into the rat race. Paddling like fury just to stay afloat and maintain the status quo. Tired? Yes. But glad to be alive and have the opportunity to participate in this bonkers world we live in.
Black Thoughts 
You brought a smile to my face with this post, Stephen. I have visions of the Mad Hatters Tea Party with what’s to come 🤣😂🤣
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Never a dull moment 😂
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It is a paradox that we have had more opportunities to rest in the past year and we are also more fatigued than ever. Stress will do that to ye.
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Yes, I get that. I’ve personally experienced greater fatigue and illness in lockdown than when I had a busier lifestyle.
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We are definitely are going to have to find a new normal.
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Let’s hope we can 🤞🏻
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Aw, the grind, that perpetual lodestone we all wear around our necks! Loved the last bit expressing gratitude for life itself. The pandemic surely made us appreciate it all the more. 🙂
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Most definitely, Carol. Hope you are all well 😊
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All but one of our little family have received vaccines so we are okay, thank you. I hope the inhabitants of Chez Black are all well and happy. 🙂
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We are all good thank you and fully vaccinated 😊
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Yay! Our eldest lives in Newfoundland and apparently when she first tried to get an appointment they’d run out of vaccines. She now has one in June. She is fairly safe so I am not unduly worried.
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That’s good to hear 😊
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Honestly, the character in this book seemed lazy and depressed. I had no idea why she decided to sleep for a year, and while the plot sounded compelling, I could not even finish the book
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The author makes it repeatedly clear why she chose this course of action. Yes, she was depressed, that’s the central theme of the book. Calling a depressed person lazy shows a lack of understanding of those struggling with mental illness.
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Delete my comment pls 🙂 I am not calling depressed people lazy, I was trying to say “either lazy OR depressed”, but I can see how it came across wrong
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I feel like I lack sleep too. This morning I woke up at 4:30. I was thirsty.
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The world is bonkers in so many ways isn’t it? I find myself lacking sleep, but usually due to decisions I make about playing video games to late, or becoming engrossed in editing the current scene of my book until the wee hours of the morning! (Only 3000 words left on this edit! I’m starting to get excited that it might actually turn into a published book at some point!)
I have wondered what taking some time away from everything would be like, if it would be like a version of a holiday, or if it would be like slotting ourselves out at one point and back into another (sort of time-travel-esque in a way maybe? My brain is stuck in story idea mode!)
Thank you for your consistency and perseverance. Reading your blog is one of the things that can help me on a day I feel flat and tired, no matter what the title or content within it is.
I hope the sports are still going strong and going well for your kids!
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Thank you Hamish. Keep plugging away. Your feedback and support also motivate me to keep writing 😊
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Ha! ‘…like a congested pig…’ Hilarity at its finest!
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