What if #1

This post is an invitation to you to think about the word in the middle of life: IF (L-IF-E). Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog will present a different "What If...?" question for you to explore. Some will be serious, some will be silly, some might be political, religious or historical.

You can either write a response of your own, or just tune in to see what everyone else has to say about it. At the bottom of this post will be a place for you to link up your own post about the question, so feel free to share. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

***If you have a What IF? question you would like to submit as a possible future prompt, please do so in the Rivera Runs Through It Community What If discussion.***

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #1:

What if there's NOTHING?

I have been having a bit of a British invasion over here in my house and, as part of it, have been watching the entire series of the sci-fi series, Torchwood on Netflix (originally on BBC America and its newest season is on Starz). This "What if" question was inspired by this show. Starting in episode one there was this thing called a resurrection glove that could bring the dead back to life for a couple of minutes to help the crew find out the details of their deaths. However, given the chance, I guess the question couldn't be resisted, and one character asked the victim what death was like. The answer: there's nothing, just darkness, nothing.

I felt like I was punched in the gut while escaping into my happy little fictional land. As the show has continued (I think we are in season two now), this theme has continued. I have a feeling it is leading to some sort of alien explanation, but in the meantime, it got me thinking... What IF there's nothing?

Perhaps you've already pondered this before, but having lost my first parent when I was only 12 years old, and being raised a Roman Catholic, I simply have never entertained this option. I have pondered the ambiguity of my faith; the essence of faith relying on no proof of the things I believe, but I can't say I ever remember a time of thinking nothing.

So this is an intellectual exercise for me. Can I wrap my head around it? How would I live my life differently? 

This is a pretty intense What if question to begin with, but it was the out-of-left-field appearance of this pondering that truly inspired the entire What if project. I feel I would not be true to myself nor the nature of this entire project IF I did not start with a biggie. 

If you need some inspiration, just Imagine...

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...

~John Lennon 

I can't count how many times I sang along to this song and never realized that John Lennon was challenging me then to imagine there's nothing. So join me in sharing with the world our answers to the first "What if" question: What if there's nothing?

13 Ways I Deal With Insomnia

I waddle my way to my bedroom, lazily put on a pair of pajamas and shuffle into bed. I am exhausted. The day is done. I am ready for sleep.

On some nights, however, such as this one, sleep eludes me. Here are just some of the things I do when I can't sleep:

Things I Don't Recommend to Fellow Insomniacs

• I grab my iPhone.
• I check out the WebMD APP to try to figure out what is wrong with me. This never helps me sleep, it simply causes me to jump into the rabbit hole called "Google" on a quest to define the twenty or so ailments I have come up with based on the symptom checker.
• I jump into the rabbit hole called "Google" to search something that is on my mind. This leads to another thing, then another, and so on. Then the sun rises and I wonder what happened. I decide, of course, to google "What happened?" and then I am slammed with the most recent news stories which engulf me.
• I get out of bed and start blogging.
• I go on Twitter.
• I go on Facebook (discovery: all my Facebook friends go quiet from 4:30am to 5:00am, like clockwork, but my Twitter never sleeps).
• I think about all the spiders that just woke up and may be planning to build a web over my head in the darkness.
• I get a drink of water. This only leads to a need to go to the bathroom just when I am about to fall asleep again.

Things That Kind-of Work

• I read a book. I just remembered that I have one to read right now. (Wow, I might rest yet!)
• I go on StumbleUpon. While this probably does keep me up a bit later than it should, I tend to exhaust myself with SU.
• I watch an episode of something I never saw before on NetFlix. (I stick to half hour shows and watch no more than two per night.) I have now seen all of the Arrested Developments this way and I am working my way through Better Off Ted. Both shows are hilarious.
• I listen to a book. This is awesome because my eyes get to rest, however, I do tend to fall asleep and have no idea where to pick up the book the next time I am listening.
• I have a cup of Sleepytime tea or Calming tea. These both tend to knock me out.

 Well, so it goes, perhaps getting out of bed to start blogging is not such a bad idea after all - it seems I have lulled myself into quiet a sleepy state. I only hope I've done th same for you if you need to sleep as desperately as I do!

How do you deal with insomnia?