Three Modern Mantras

A handful of phrases to keep you sane

It’s hard to keep it together. Our minds, the more they age, seem to find chaos and decline around every corner. That is only natural. Entropy and dissolution are the overwhelming commonalities in the universe. It’s a miracle we’re able to keep any sense of order at all.

But keep it together we must. For our loved ones and also for our own sense of self-worth. On the chance that my experience could be of some use to others, I thought I’d share three mantras that came to me from different avenues. I repeat these phrases daily. They provide me with some relief.

1. “If I can’t sleep, at least I can rest”

It is three in the morning. A nightmare, an anxious thought of an undone task, a worry over a child. Whatever. You are awake. Wide awake. Moreover you are awake worrying about not being asleep. You have things to do when the sun rises. Things that require the full power of a well-rested mind. The thoughts of lost, un-regainable sleep torture you even more. A little while back the hiphop artist MC Paul Barman gave me this phrase: if I can’t sleep, at least I can rest. This is true. Nothing can stop you from lying in bed and at least giving your physical self repose from labor. Remember this when you torture yourself with the minutes of lost sleep ticking away. Nobody can…