sleep | The Direction of Intention

Out Of The Question [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on October 12, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

I wrote to Horatio that COVID comes as advertised. It is no joke.

The prescription is to rest and get plenty of sleep. The resting part is easy since there is no energy for anything else. Walking is a chore. Sitting is a chore. Thinking is out of the question. What remains is called rest.

The sleeping part, on the other hand, is nigh-on-impossible. We both brought it home from our travels so our dueling coughs, hacks, and wheezes make sleep an impossibility. Moving to the couch to be alone with my hack-n-wheeze was a losing strategy. It’s hard to sleep when every atom aches. I didn’t know that atoms could ache. I have atoms I never knew I had.

The lemonade from so many lemons? In my pursuit of new experiences I can now say I have a visceral understanding of COVID. Perhaps in the future I should be more discerning about what I am and am not willing to learn. A consideration for later. Right now, thinking – and sleeping – are out of the question.

read Kerri’s blogpost about COVID

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Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, aches and pains, artistry, chills, covid, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, energy, experiences, fever, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, middle age cartoon, middle age romance, prescription, rest, sleep, smack-dab, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | 1 Comment »

Nod And Nod Again [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on August 3, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

We took a mini-vacation. Two days that felt like a total getaway and, in those two days, we relaxed. Completely. Totally. On the trip home Kerri said that it felt like we’d been away for weeks.

We are not generally nap-takers but since arriving home, each day without fail, a tidal wave of exhaustion has rolled over us. In short, we have become champion sleepers. “We must’ve needed it,” she slurs, struggling to sit up, as we emerge from our daily knock-out nap.

“What just happened? What day is it?” I mumble, fearing we are modern day Rip Van Winkles.

I wonder, is it rude to nod-off atop the podium while receiving our latest gold medal?

read Kerri’s blogpost about SLEEP

like. share. support. subscribe. comment…but not too loud; we may be sleeping.

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, artistry, bloggers, cartoon about middle age, cartoonists, composer, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, exhaustion, gold medal, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, nap, naps, olympics, painter, relaxation, rip van winkle, sleep, sleepers, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | 1 Comment »

Better Than Nectar [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on March 2, 2024 by davidrobinsoncreative

My dad used to call coffee “the nectar of the gods.” Kerri and I feel the same way about a good strong cup of black java. There’s nothing better. The smell of fresh coffee brewing is hard to top. We giggle each night in anticipation of the coffee we will sip the next morning.

So, on those rare mornings that the coffee is brewed, the scent fills the house with rich warm delight, I bring the “errand of mercy” to my sleeping wife and announce the arrival of the nectar…and she doesn’t open her eyes…

It has been THAT kind of a week. There’s always more coffee to make, but sleep, real deep rejuvenating sleep, now that is hard to come by. Better than nectar. A welcome gift from the gods.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SLEEP

support. like. share. comment. good actions and all are greatly appreciated

buymeacoffee is, apparently, a gift you deliver to artists straight from the gods. get to it!;-)

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, anticipation, artistry, cartoon about middle age, coffee, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, gift, java, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, mercy, middle age romance, Morning ritual, nectar, rest, second chances, sleep, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | 1 Comment »

Mind The Monsters [on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on October 8, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

When you are a child, the monsters rustle around under the bed. When you are an adult, the monsters swim around in your mind when you can’t sleep. I much preferred the monsters under the bed. They were more direct in their threat. No one wants to be eaten.

Kerri has many more monster-mind nights than I do. She generally frets her way to dawn. Even though I know better, even though I already know the answer, each morning I ask, “How did you sleep?” She gives me that look, so I ask my standard follow-up question, “I wonder why you aren’t sleeping?”

I already know the answer to that question, too. I ask it anyway because she will respond, “I don’t know.” We chat about it. We make up excuses: wine, we ate too late,…

The real reason? Mind monsters.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MONSTERS

Filed under: smack-dab, Uncategorized | Tagged: aarp, artistry, cartoons, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fret, fretting, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, middle age cartoon, mind monsters, monsters, restless, restless mind, second chances, sleep, sleepless nights, smack-dab, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | 1 Comment »

Snore and Deny [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on March 19, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Although we may have led you to believe otherwise, these characters are fictitious. Especially the man. He’s a product of imagination and has no bearing on reality. Any resemblance is purely coincidental and, since I never snore, there’s no chance of coincidental resemblance. None. Nope.

Now, if the woman in the cartoon snored, well…

read Kerri’s blog post about CHAINSAWS

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, artistry, cartoon, comic strip, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, deniability, denial, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, middle age, musician, painter, relationship, saturday morning smack-dab., second chances, sleep, sleepless, sleepless nights, smack-dab., snoring, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | Leave a comment »

Be Manly [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on February 12, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Don’t be deceived. Even though I’m a sensitive male, a soft-guy, an empath, an introvert, a painter…I am, after all, still a man. In a pre-google-maps-world, when lost, I’d never stop the car and ask for directions. I’d flex and figure it out. If you have a problem, my first impulse is to fix it. Guy stuff, through and through. Sometimes I even surprise myself. “How manly of me!” I exclaim.

read Kerri’s blogpost about BOY-GIRL STUFF

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, artistry, cartoons, change, change angst, chocolate, comics, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, denial, fixing, guy stuff, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life changes, mars and venus, men and women, middle age, problem solving, resistance, second chances, sleep, sleep deprivation, smack-dab., solving, story, studio melange, the melange | 2 Comments »

Deny and Arrive [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on January 1, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kerri often has a difficult time sleeping which means that I, too, have a difficult time sleeping. Left to my own devices, I am a champion sleeper.

I don’t mind, though. Some of our best conversations happen in the dead of night. There’s nothing like a sleepless wife and a midnight snack to bring up the real stuff. I delight when, in the quiet of a slumbering world, we talk of dreams and disappointments, hopes and heartaches. Nothing is solved. Everything is revealed. The gift of the night is to clear the clutter.

I confess that I sometimes meet her, “Are you up?” with an intentional show of snoring or a delayed response, staged mumbling or, “What, huh…” There is a necessary transition zone from champion sleeper through denial to the arrive at the acceptance that sleepless for one is sleepless for both.

And, then, the great conversations begin.

read Kerri’s blog post on saturday morning smack-dab.

Filed under: Love, smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, acceptance, artistry, cartoon, comic, composer, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, denial, dreams, empty nesters, great conversatons, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, midnight conversations, painter, saturday morning smack-dab, second chances, sleep, sleepless, smack-dab., story, studio melange, the melange, two artists, writers | Leave a comment »

Detach and Dream [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on July 31, 2021 by davidrobinsoncreative

Here’s the truth. I hardly ever have trouble sleeping. Where sleep is concerned, I am easily detached. Thought-less. When I awake in the morning, I pass through a phase that I lovingly call, “The Garbage Layer:” all the thoughts and worries and lists and…stuff-of-the-day. It’s the stuff I left behind when slipping into sleep. I’ve come to realize that the garbage will be waiting for me in the morning so there’s no need to carry it with me to the world of my dreams. I suppose that’s a guy-thing though 20 assures me that he rarely sleeps through the night.

If I’m awake at night it’s because Kerri has poked my shoulder, asking, “Are you up?” My thoughtless and detached male response is always, “Yes. Are you?”

read Kerri’s SMACK-DAB thoughts.

Filed under: smack-dab | Tagged: angst, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dreams, garbage layer, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, marriage, middle age, relationship, second chances, sleep, sleepless nights, studio melange, thought full, thoughtless | Leave a comment »

Learn The DogDog Way [on Merely A Thought Monday

Posted on September 16, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

dogga end of day copy

DogDog is an Aussie and takes the job of herding his people very seriously. We are a tough bunch. Two artists (one A.D.D. and the other O.C.D) and a BIG cat are not easily collected or moved in a consistent or singular direction. It is not an understatement to say that DogDog was not given an easy task in this lifetime.

On top of the endless challenge of gathering the un-gatherable, he is a hyper sensitive boy; he knows what we are feeling before we do. He runs all of our emotions through his filters. The Dog Whisperer says that dogs are masters at reading energy and DogDog must have graduated at the top of his pooch class. Anticipating our every move is made more complex by his innate skill in surfing our full palette of turbulent and uninhibited feelings. Were he human, he’d be a nervous wreck.

His days are full, chaotic, and active. And so, at the end of the day, when we at last settle, when the perimeter is safe and we are secure, he collapses. It is almost as if someone disconnected the cable to his battery. He hits the floor. His sleep is immediate and sound (unless, of course, we move).

I realized, in watching his deep and peaceful sleep, the kind of sleep that I rarely experience, that he is teaching me to love the impossible task. In fact, he simply loves the task before him with no regard to its achievement. He engages the impossible with joy and a hearty wag-a-wag. He participates. He delights. He loves. He, therefore, has no need for either the possible or the impossible. Those are abstractions and he deals with the reality of the moment.

Neither does he resent the turbulence we toss in his path. He takes no ownership for how we feel and, so, is not compelled to control what we feel. He simple reads the color of our mood and loves accordingly. He does not deflect or dodge or manipulate. He does not ignore or pretend or deny. He stands without judgment in the daily bedlam of his humans as if there was no better place to be on earth.

I desire the peaceful sleep he experiences. He shows me the way everyday. Admittedly, I am a slow study but he is a patient and generous teacher. “Tomorrow,” I tell myself, “I will love the impossible task.” Or, perhaps, if I really learn the DogDog way, I will give up the notion of possible or impossible altogether and simply attend with joy to the task at hand.

read Kerri’s blog post about DogDog Sleeping