This spring break I read a book called My year of rest an relaxation by Ottesa Moshfegh, It follows the story of a young woman named the narrator, who decides to embark on a self-imposed hibernation, seeking to escape the pains of existence through an experimental cocktail of prescription drugs. As she endeavors to sleep her troubles away, she reflects on her past, her relationships, and her own sense of identity. Moshfegh’s novel explores themes of alienation, disconnection, and the search for meaning in a world that often feels devoid of purpose. With its dark humor and incisive commentary on contemporary society, “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” offers a compelling and unconventional exploration of one woman’s quest for inner peace.
“Sleep felt productive. Something was getting sorted out. I knew in my heart—this was, perhaps, the only thing my heart knew back then—that when I’d slept enough, I’d be okay. I’d be renewed, reborn. I would be a whole new person, every one of my cells regenerated enough times that the old cells were just distant, foggy memories. My past life would be but a dream, and I could start over without regrets, bolstered by the bliss and serenity that I would have accumulated in my year of rest and relaxation.”
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I picked this quote because it’s true we usually use sleep as a form of escapism of reality, specially in our more vulnerable moments, sometimes we are not even that tired but something inside us says that we should sleep and we will feel better. This a practice the protagonist often uses in the book in the search of felling better.