Bedtime, Blankets, and Wrapping Yourself in Peace

On the importance of taking a break

“But if I don’t rest,” thought bird to herself, “how will I ever have the strength to fly?”

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📷: Ohana, unpainted

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I sleep with a blanket wrapped around my head.

There, I said it.

It’s nothing new. I’ve done it since I was a kid.

Fuzzy ones. Thick ones. Colored ones. Each and every one a gift, stitched together with love from my mom, my sisters.

Each night, I wrap myself in its comfort – once, twice, sometimes three times ‘round; a pressure on my temples and around my forehead, a sweet barrier between me and everything else.

I don’t remember exactly when I traded my pillow for a blanket. I do, however, remember the feeling of Little Me wanting to hide myself somewhere soft, somewhere cozy, where I could slip away – protecting who was inside from what was out.

Although @arabellarabella tolerates it, I’ve gotten plenty of grief from others for this over the years. I mean, I’m an adult who sleeps with a blanket.

“Lil’ Marky and his blankie.” “Now, we know the real reason you’ve never been married.” “Should we call you ‘Linus’.”

And yet I persist.

Simply because it makes me feel safe.

It quiets an often too-bright and too-loud world, making it still enough and dark enough to see my own stars.

And that’s all we really want, right?

A way to feel safe. A moment to reconnect with our own north stars. A temporary pause to look within to see beyond.

What is something you do that makes you feel safe?

As our world spins akimbo, are you doing it now?