Confessions of a Gluten-Free Gal - Part 1:Sleep is Important (Among Other Things)

Dear Readers,

So begins my first post of the "Confessions of a Gluten-Free Gal" blogger style. Over the past year, a handful of my posts on social media have been titled "Confessions of a Gluten-Free Gal," with my musings, focused on anything from relationships, to being comfortable with who you are, to pet peeves, etc. Throughout this time, a few of my friends have mentioned that I should start a blog centered on this. At first, I took it as somewhat of a joke, but then, when people from all different walks of life started encouraging me in this way, I thought, "why not?" Aside from being a teacher, one of my other passions/hobbies in life is writing. And, I don't tend to do much of that nor make time for that as a daily practice in my life anymore. As such, I'm hoping to integrate this practice into my daily life once again, as routine as eating, waking up, conversing, and interacting with the world is. And, so here begins (what I hope), are daily/weekly reflection(s) on life as a single, gluten-free gal.

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Sleep is important.

But, last night, I couldn't sleep. I literally slept, at the most, one hour. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't fall asleep. But, I know that I am not alone in this endeavor. Though I tend not to struggle with falling asleep, I do struggle with shutting off my "television" of a mind at night. I've read research articles about the importance of unplugging from technology before going to bed every night, but still, I fall short. Sometimes, when I examine myself really closely with a magnifying glass, I have a fear of missing out (or FOMO), as some of my friends like to call it.

Other times, I just have so many thoughts swirling around in my head like a tornado, that I cannot simply, silence them. When I was in college, I used to write before I went to sleep and then this practice slowly drifted away. It was incredibly helpful, because as soon as I made the effort to collect my thoughts on paper, I was able to rest comfortably.

However, I think that the busyness of life and the seasons that I found myself in, changed all of that. Deep down inside, I have realized one thing: we all struggle, or should I say, we all have our own boatload of challenges that we encounter on a daily basis. The piece that should be the determining factor of whether we "write," (however pen to paper looks in our lives) is, are we brave enough to name the things that cause us pain, hurt, or even sorrow, to call them out, and to work inside the vessel of learning how to live life alongside them. Because, I feel that once we do that, (once I begin to call out that I worry, I work a lot, and sometimes, I take myself too seriously), then we will begin to find healing and open up the pathway to a cottage surrounded by the beauty of blossoming flowers.