By Andrew Hiller: I've been thinking a lot about the need for sleep recently. My mother suffers from sleep apnea, like many Americans, and I had been suffering from an uneasy sleep too over recent weeks. I attributed it to stress, but it also could be diet, an inconsistent bed time and a number of other factors. Like many Americans, I take sleep for granted even though I know how important it is cognitively and physically. Still, in the attempt to do what I need to, what I want to and meet my obligations for work, family, friends, and every so often self... I found myself losing zzz's. However, while the Prism was on hiatus I did something I haven't done for two years. Nothing. I went on holiday. I didn't take the cell phone... though I did take the lap top. I went to someplace warm and slept, wandered out with a sketchpad, and every so often emerged for a small adventure, but mostly... blissfully, I did nothing. Now, nothing included seeing some 1200 year old petroglyphs marked in dark red on the walls of a cave in Arikok National Park. It also included taking a trip in a non-yellow submarine to look at corals, critters, sea turtles, and an assortment of plants. But mainly, nothing means that I got to sleep in. Sometimes, all the way to 8am! And sketch and chat about silly things and forget about all the imminent nothings that are so crucial and immediate and desperate. There's something to be said for living a 20th Century life. Not having that virtual umbilical cord tied to you where people expect to call, text, IM, and email and get an immediate response was... well, it apparently was worth a few letters more than Z. I think I'm going to incorporate that into my life somehow because if I've learned anything while looking through the Prism on Radio VR, here in Washington, it's that sometimes the healthiest thing you can do for yourself is nothing. Source: Voice of Russia - US Edition
