I had the pleasure of watching a pretty stellar motion picture this past weekend. A smart, witty, neurotic Rom-Com called, ‘Sleepwalk With Me’. If you are a fan of NPR’s ‘This American Life’, you may have heard about comedian/actor/director Mike Birbiglia’s rapid eye movement behavior disorder and the life threatening events depicted in the flick. To curb Mike’s nocturnal activities, he implements a method where he basically ‘powers down’ his mind, body and soul. He turns off the phone, television and internet a couple of hours before he hits the sack.

Now, I’ve never had Sleepwalking issues. However, like anyone and everyone, there are times when my body hates me. My body telling me something is wrong in my life and the way I fundamentally live it. Our subconscious has an annoying knack for discovering self-defeating behavior and thoughts before our conscious mind does, and it lets us know with fun stuff like anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc. I tend to think of the feelings like a “check engine” light; the computer knows there’s a problem before the engine actually breaks down.

I read an article by a psychologist recently and his premise was essentially this: man has evolved for hundreds of thousands of years to survive as a hunter/gatherer/communal participant. Our brains are finely tuned machines that are wired to thrive in such an existence. Thousands of years of community, focused and rewarding tasks, and a direct relationship to our food/shelter/etc.

The industrial revolution happens and we are suddenly living in a world that is completely changes every ten years. Over the last 20 years or so; think of the speed at which technology advances and inundates our very existence. After all those thousands of years hard-wiring ourselves to be one thing, we’ve suddenly created a world where that thing is useless. We isolate ourselves, sit in front of digital media machines all day, expedite our relationships, have no connection with our food/shelter/etc. Or where it came from.

In essence, we have tried to change faster than biological evolution will allow and the result is the obvious pandemic of emotional disorders in modernized countries; our collective subconscious is freaking out because it is not equipped to multi-task under fluorescent lights all day, doing work that is far removed from our survival.


Most of us can identify with the archetype of ‘modern man, modern woman’, putting lots of importance on modern stuff and doing work that does not edify your human need to feel connected to the product you make and its utility. Like Marx and the concept of building a chair and then sitting in it vs. screwing in one leg as it passes you on a conveyor belt, never to be seen as a whole.


Perhaps we do need to “unplug” more. Remove ourselves from the chains of constant email alerts, Facebook, streamlined community, pointless gadgets and distractions. Discover the benefit of doing real work and benefiting from it. Be outside more and get sun and exercise. Eat foods that we have grown ourselves. Spend time with people you love just talking over coffee with no phones, movies, and music, whatever to distract you from that moment. Stop multi-tasking! When we eat, just eat. When we sit on our porches and look at the stars, just do that. Focus on the simple things. Try unplugging in any way we can in order to power up our mind, body and soul.

I wouldn’t want you walking out of any two story windows.

-Dagobot