And so it goes: Zero to 60. A pitch black night to a bright, sunlit day. The abrupt end of one chapter entitled:
Chapter 17: Unemployment :'(
...to the lickety split turn of the page, and a new chapter entitled:
Chapter 18: Gainful Employment :)
Prior to Chapter 18, the notion of engaging an alarm clock (and its corollary, sleep deprivation) was as hazy as the faded ink barely protruding from a sun blanched newspaper.
Prior to Chapter 18, the downside of unemployment (poverty) stood hand in hand with its stark silver lining - actually, screw that - its fiercely good as gold super feature: a w i d e swath of time to sleep, and nap, and fall sway to even the slightest of the slight-li-est urges to shut my eyes and paddle drowsily toward a haven of rapid eye movement. At any hour of the day.
I certainly don't regret flipping the page to a new chapter, despite the accompanying lack of sleep, subsequent late night delusions (about 30 minutes ago I couldn't remember how to spell "Wednesday"), and the spike in cortisol level.
In a corner of my heart (right hand corner of the pericardium) I carry some fondness for the previous chapter. I'll miss constantly confusing the days of the week, sleeping like a sloth, and the crisp vision that was a gift of steady somnolence.
The best part of Chapter 17 was that I could watch today gradually curl into tonight without constraint or restriction, and then alertly greet tonight's today while the world around me slumbered. And then wake up and eat my eggs while the world around me ordered lunch.
