Tuesday, May 25, 2004

I was thinking, as I often do early mornings, about the simple pleasures of
being home sick. Being sick is not fun, of course, but there is a certain
satisfaction to lying in bed, zoning in and out of sleep, listening to the
rest of the world go to work and school, and knowing that this is the single
best thing you can be doing for yourself and for society.

It then occurred to me that being sick is also somewhat pleasant because
Maslow's hierarchy of needs kicks in, so you stop caring about anything
except the fact that you're sick. Your concerns about your purpose in the
universe and the current political situation and that project at work and
the poor quality of cable television programming and various dysfunctional
interpersonal relationships are all put on hold, and all you care about is
Getting Better. Not that I'd want to be sick all the time, but it is
somewhat refreshing not to care about anything more than staying warm,
hydrating, sleeping, and taking my medication on time.

Perhaps this is why some people use alcohol and drugs to excess, well beyond
what they can comfortably handle. While they are drunk/high, and while they
are recovering, their body is essentially sick. It has been invaded by an
uncomfortable quantity of foreign substance and now it must survive this
invasion. So for as long as the substance is affecting them, they don't
need to worry about anything else.

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