On the other hand, I'm extremely well-rested.

I exhibit several inappropriate responses to stress: laughing, peeing, falling down, suffering shooting pains in my head. One of the most annoying ones is falling asleep. This usually strikes when I’m writing. While I’m laboring to get some words down on the damn page, I get freaked that what I’m writing is no good, that it will never be any good, that I’m incapable of putting together a sentence that anyone would give a damn about. And then my eyelids clamp shut and I’m drooling on my shirt. This feeling can overtake me while I’m writing just about anything, but at least these days I manage to stay awake while composing thank-you notes or a shopping list. But writing a book, just to use a hypothetical sort of example with no basis in reality, will immediately catapult me into unconsciousness. This is infuriating, and yet even my rage doesn’t seem to perk me up. I can be railing against my useless defense mechanisms and then before I finish my sentence I’m kayaking with my dead grandmother and she’s hucking Stella D’Oro Breakfast Treats at me.

Wow, that’s a dream I wish I’d had. I made that up, right there. But probably I could have come up with something better, crap, what if I wrote, hmm, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Comments

[Not Scarlett]

Stella D'Oro Breakfast Treats! Ha! You just made me spit tea on my PC screen and I thank you for it!

[Bonnie]

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[Wonderer]

It seems that I've been having varied physical responses to stress, however, since they don't work, they move onto the next thing. You see, I'm raising two special needs kids, helping take care of my elderly parents next door, working full time, and writing part-time. My stress isn't going away. So, it's like my body rebels... "Oh yeah? How about THIS?" So It used to have rashes. Then back spasms. There was a sleeping phase. Now I have an eye twitch that hasn't gone away in a week. My body is apparently at war with myself. I'm sure there's some kind of deep meaningful message in there somewhere, but I'm too tired to find it.

Posted by: michele | November 08, 2007 at 06:54 PM

Hey, that sounds familiar! My life isn't as hectic as yours, but it's still stressing me out, and my body seems to be trying the same trick. Sleeping problems, headaches, upper back pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, etc....but never at the same time or even in the same week. They alternate. WTH, body?

Anyway, I hope something eases up for you soon!

[jozet from Halushki]

Let me tell you my sure fire hints for staying awake while...while writ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wha? Fishsticks?