"nobody goes to sleep alone"

"nobody goes to sleep alone"

my friend once told me the above quote.

initially i felt that this was a sappy quote, seeing as he just met his now-girlfriend it was fitting that he'd tell me a romantic quote. but i error on instinct far too often to trust myself. only until he explained the quote did it make sense to me what he meant.

i don't remember who said the quote, and google was of no benefit. my search results consisted of erotic stories and carpet care faq (frequently asked questions). so this post will credit nobody for the conception of this line.

my friend explained that people physically go to sleep by themselves all the time, but they never go to sleep alone.

simply put, the quote is saying that the last thought someone has before they fall asleep is always a good one. people normally think of a lover, friend, family, a fun memory, a joyous place, etc. this happy thought is the catalyst for people to fall asleep. a lonely or unhappy mind is a very difficult thing to put to rest.

not too long ago a friend called me very early in the morning. she lives on the east coast, and i was sleeping when she called. i talked to her for a minute or two and fell back asleep. i forgot 90% of the conversation, but she was in my dream after i hung up and fell back asleep. i told her later on that her early phone call placed her in my dream. she said "that's why i always read cookbooks before i go to sleep, so i dream of food!!"

in hemingway's the old man and the sea, one of few in my small repertoire of read books, the main character is a very lonely old man. he hasn't caught a fish for months, and has virtually nobody. he regularly dreams of lions on the african beach when he sleeps. it's told to us that he loves the memory of those lions on that beach. the time in his life when he saw them was his favorite.

i started to think about who/what i think about when i go to sleep. lately i've been reading insanelymac.com. a website dedicated to running apple's osx on a non-apple computers. perhaps i'm more like the old man and the sea than i knew? apple's operating system was called panther, tiger, and the new one is called leopard!

i now wonder about people with insomnia, are they simply searching for that memory or idea that'll put them to sleep? tyler durden could have just been lonely.