Working On A Quirky Graph

The human body is such a complex and fickle bit of machinery. Incredibly resilient, yet will react badly if the minimum requirements aren’t met regularly. It also changes the minimum requirements on a whim without warning. Did you drink the standard amount of water yesterday? Fantastic! Today it will need to be doubled or your muscles will cramp and you will be constipated for no real reason.

Navigating the new boundaries my body has put in place is an adventure all by itself, but throw winter in the mix with cold and blustery days, little sunshine and not enough protein and I’m having trouble figuring up from down. Sleep is an elusive unicorn, while I try and get my energy regulated. I imagine this will be easier in the spring, but I feel I’m wandering a darkened forest without a compass to get me out. Every once and again I see sunlight, but it ends up being a break in the trees, not the edge of the woods.

While we as a group have figured out so much with the body and the brain, everything is always a little different for each person and it is not all encompassing knowledge. Especially with the brain.

I hear a dream the other morning. Honestly you have to love a good REM sleep, but I remember it as it was so vivid. So unexpected. I dreamt I ran into an old colleague at a bar/restaurant. I walked up to him and his companion and upon realizing who it was, gave him a long heartfelt hug. I have no idea who he was with, I just remember feeling glad to see him and see that he was doing well. As we slowly parted from a relatively long hug, I realized that I had no idea where I was at, and that it was odd that I was seeing this person. Then I woke up.

I haven’t seen him in almost 15 years. I don’t really do social media so I have no way of connecting with him. And I have no idea why my brain pulled him out of the ether to give me a hug. It was so very real, the interaction, the feeling and the hug, that I’m still thinking about it a few days later. But I’m baffled too. Why this person? Why now? Would I have acted the same way if I actually saw them in real life today?

And, because we tend to look for reasons and patterns, I looked him up on the internet to see if he was even still around (he is). I was unable to go back to sleep, and it is still on my mind a few days later. I hope he is ok. I hope he is finding everything he wanted in life. I just marvel at the odd connections my body and brain come up with.

I also hope my body and brain finally sync up so I can feel like I’m running on all cylinders again.