
About this episode
Allie shares her struggles with sleep and mental clarity, recounting a recent trip to NYC and a surprising gift from a friend.
Guys, it finally happened. The sleep, I mean. Knock on wood, but I’m sleeping again. I was getting to the point where my brain resembled the crumbling ruins of some once-majestic estate, like whatever moldy manor was in Great Expectations or Wuthering Heights . I don’t actually remember much about either book, just the feeling-tone of gray skies and decaying Victorian grandeur. Chunks of my sanity, logic, and clarity of thought were shedding daily. (My hair too, but that’s a separate postpartum battle.) The locals were starting to whisper to each other, “Tread very carefully. She’s unsound.” On a recent trip to NYC, I was unable to determine when, where, or how to feed myself lunch, despite being extremely hungry. I was spending the day between Tribeca and Chelsea, and yet I booked a hotel near Grand Central “to be in the heart of it all” like a grade A jabroni. And then… salvation arrived, tenderly enclosed in wrapping paper stamped with indeterminate constellations, tucked in a brown paper bag. “You might not want to open this here,” V whispered. We were seated in Grey Dog, contemplating whether to buy the completely rationally priced $20 avocado toast or the $18 egg-and-cheese…
People in this episode
Host: Allie Canton
Topics covered
- sleep
- mental health
- self-care
- friendship
- urban experiences
Keywords
- sleep
- mental clarity
- NYC
- friendship
- self-care
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights
Places: NYC, Tribeca, Chelsea, Grand Central, Grey Dog
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