SLEEPERS AWAKE – GUADALCANAL DIARY

SLEEPERS AWAKE

CRUSTY EYES MAY OPEN NOW

YOU OF LITTLE FAITH

THE STRANGER NIGHT IS OVER NOW

SLEEPERS AWAKE

LITTLE SOLDIER FRIGHTENED SO?

TURN THEM ALL AWAY

DAYLIGHT CALLS THESE SHADOWS?

I COULDN’T FIND THE FULL LYRICS TO THIS SONG. ANY RECORDINGS OR VIDEOS THAT I’VE FOUND DID NOT GIVE UP THE WORDS TO MY EARS BUT THE FULL EXPERIENCE STILL RESONATES.

DEEP SLEEP TYPICALLY BRINGS SUBCONSCIOUS VISIONS TO THE SLEEPER. DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES ARE OFTEN INTERPRETED AS EITHER CONFLICT RESOLUTION, WISH FULFILLMENT, OR PURE DISTRACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT. THERAPY.

I DREAM A LOT. I TRY TO WRITE THE VISIONS DOWN WHEN I WAKE FROM THEM BUT IT SEEMS TOO PERSONAL AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE…EVEN WITH ONE’S SELF. I HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING SLEEP INTERRUPTIONS LATELY. I DREAM BIG IN BETWEEN WAKES. THE OTHER NIGHT I WOKE FROM A DREAM THINKING THAT SOME LARGE HUMAN SHAPED SHADOW WAS LEANING OVER MY SLEEPING FORM, REACHING BIG HANDS OUT TO ME. I WOKE UP BIG. THAT SAME NIGHT, I SAW AND FELT MYSELF STUMBLING OVER A BEACH OF ROCKS AND MOUNTAINS OF STUFFED ANIMALS, OF ALL SPECIES, DESPERATE TO FIND A RELIABLE FOOTHOLD, TO ESCAPE SOMETHING THAT WAS AFTER ME. I WAS DESPERATE AND FRIGHTENED. AT SOME POINT, OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE, I SAW A VERY LARGE POLAR BEAR GALLOPING IN MY DIRECTION. IT HAD SPLOTCHES OF COLOR ALL OVER IT’S FUR. RED. PINK. BLUE. PURPLE. ORANGE. GREEN. I HAD TO HIDE BECAUSE I KNEW I COULDN’T OUTRUN IT. I BURIED MYSELF IN PINT SIZED BUNNIES, GIRAFFES, KITTIES, DOGGIES, BEAVERS, FOXES, LIONS AND TIGERS. I THOUGHT I WAS SAFE. I HEARD THE BEAR APPROACHING AND SNUFFLING. IT STOPPED, EXHALED SHARPLY, AND LAY DOWN ON THE PILE OF GUNDT I THOUGHT I WAS SAFE UNDER.

NOW WHAT?

OF COURSE I WOKE UP…AGAIN.

SLEEP OFFERS UP OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUN FOR THE AWAKE PERSON. A POPULAR FRATERNITY PRANK IS/WAS TO DRAW BIG EYEBROWS AND MUSTACHES, WITH FELT PEN, ON SLEEPING MATES IN HOPES THAT THE SLEEPER AWAKES AND GOES OUT IN PUBLIC WITHOUT SEEING THIS TRANSFORMATION BEFORE OTHERS DO.

ANOTHER FRAT PRANK CALLS FOR ‘FRIENDS’ TO SNEAK UP ON A SLEEPING BROTHER AND LIGHTLY PINCH THEIR NOSE TO MAKE BREATHING UNCOMFORTABLE AND MAKE THEM SNORE UNTIL THE SLEEPER AWAKES. THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE ANGRY…HOPEFULLY ENOUGH TO LASH OUT VIOLENTLY. IT HAS ALSO BEEN KNOWN FOR ‘FRIENDS’ TO DIP A SLEEPING FRIENDS FINGERS IN WARM WATER ENCOURAGING THE SLEEPER TO WET THE BED. WHAT FUN!

NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT SLEEP IS AS IMPORTANT TO THE HUMAN MIND AND BODY AS FOOD, AIR, AND WATER. SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS KNOWN TO CAUSE COGNITIVE ISSUES, MEMORY ISSUES, MOOD CHANGES, ACCIDENTS, WEAKENED IMMUNITY, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, RISK OF HEART DISEASE, WEIGHT GAIN, RISK FOR DIABETES, LOW SEX DRIVE AND POOR BALANCE. BETTER SIT DOWN. DID I MENTION THAT RISK OF EARLY DEATH OR INSANITY ARE ALSO SIDE EFFECTS?

THERE ARE MANY REASONS WHY PEOPLE SUFFER FROM SLEEP DEPRIVATION. OVERWORK, SHIFT WORK, POOR SLEEP HYGIENE, EXCESSIVE DAYTIME STIMULANTS LIKE CAFFEINE, AGING, SLEEP APNEA, PHYSICAL ILLNESS, MENTAL ILLNESS AND SOCIETAL FEAR AND ANXIETY CAN PREVENT YOU FROM GETTING THE REQUIRED SEVEN TO EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP PER NIGHT. LIVING UNDER CONSTANT THREAT OF TYRANNY AND DEATH AS WE ARE NOW CAN DEFINITELY INTERFERE WITH RESTFUL SLEEP. FEAR OF STARVATION, UNEMPLOYMENT AND LOSS OF FREEDOMS AND BODILY AUTONOMY CAN SURELY CAUSE (DIS)EASE AND INTERFERE WITH THE THE RESTORATIVE NATURE OF HEALTHY SLEEP CYCLES.

GUADALCANAL DIARY WAS AN AMERICAN ALTERNATIVE BAND THAT ORIGINATED IN MARIETTA, GEORGIA BUT WERE INCLUDED IN THE ATHENS SCENE THAT PRODUCED GREAT BANDS SUCH AS R.E.M., WIDESPREAD PANIC, OF MONTREAL, AND THE B-52S. G.D. FORMED IN 1981 AND DISBANDED IN 1989. DURING THEIR CAREER, THEY RELEASED SIX FULL LENGTH ALBUMS AND NINE SINGLES. THEIR MUSIC IS STILL FRESH NOW. SONGS LIKE ‘WATUSI RODEO’, ‘GET OVER IT’, AND ‘TRAIL OF TEARS’ STILL GET ME GOING AND NOSTALGIC.

‘SLEEPERS AWAKE’

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