lying on a soft comfy fluffy white bed, hugged by a cool cover, feeling the warmth that the outer world didn’t offer. allowing yourself to rest.

we get permission from the world to not be on our tippy toes anymore, just as the sky touches navy blue like an alarm “oh, we can sleep”.

i wonder why something this wonderful ever got wrapped in shame, just because our eyes are closed.

honestly, my best days were the ones when i got good sleep and kept a perfect sleep schedule, thanks to my mom during my elementary school days.

and yes, thanks to science, there are real benefits known: health, restoration of the body and mind, and better output during the day.

but aside from all that, i want to add that sleeping itself is an activity we should all fall in love with, you know?

it’s like the full stop to a sentence. a full stop to all those voices churning in your head.

i think that, at times, sleeping is the only time we let ourselves have some “me time,” unfortunately.

in hindsight, it kind of makes sense for a capitalist society to shame an activity that gives no output from its slaves, influencing us through banners like:

even though, ironically, science goes against their idea — the very same science they so believe in.

but for our own betterment, i guess we should be sensible enough to do things for our own good, right?

if nature has given us humans a beautiful, genius brain compared to other species, we might as well use it to draw boundaries around which slogans to listen to, and which not to.

so please, for yourself.

just yourself.

sleep.

fall in love with sleep, because it is one of the ways to fall in love with your own life, and your own self.

goodnight, xoxo Rain💤

Be like Rain. Write for It’s All Good:

How To Write For Us

It’s okay. You can rest now. was originally published in It’s All Good on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

what if a vacation was not always a place you had to travel to?
what if it was just a brief moment, when your mind finally stopped feeling like you were trapped somewhere?

a moment that carried me to a breezy, clear blue sea.

Recently, I went out to touch some grass, after months of ruminating indoors, cooped up in my room. And I have to say, I felt good. Really sunny, happy, warm-good. Like I’d been transported to a beach — my favourite place in the world.

I was listening to a feel-good playlist in my native language… it was soothing, like a tea to calm my nerves. I think light, uplifting songs — especially in your home language — work wonders. Maybe because they’re closer to the heart, tied to childhood.

Around then, I saw two little boys playing with paper planes. They shyed away when they noticed me, and I couldn’t help laughing. Soon, I joined in to play with those little munchkins. Trying to fly those half-assed planes into the sky.

A while later, I was scrolling Pinterest when I came across this picture.

I cannot quite explain it, but I felt a strange jolt of joy or peace — I am not sure which. It transported me straight back to the mountain trips I took with my family as a child — back when I did not know the definition of “worry.”

I was curious about it so I got to some searching. Turns out that these colourful cloths are Tibetan prayer flags, arranged in a canopy around a central pole. Printed with sacred mantras, they are traditionally hung outdoors so the wind can carry prayers and positive energy into the world. Their colours — blue, white, red, green, and yellow — represent the five sacred elements: sky, air, fire, water, and earth.

No wonder I felt good! It’s my lock screen now!

I hope I get to see something like it in person someday. 🤞

Which brings me to my second-favourite place —

Yes, Buddhist altars and monasteries. Although, I was not born into this religion, or culture, but I somehow feel very drawn to this even as a 22-year-old. My mom would perhaps freak out thinking I want to become a monk, and no I don’t…yet.
But there’s a strange sense of peace and belongingness that I feel here.

Anyways, these are the things that make me feel really happy, and alive.

I hope it gave you some positivity and upliftment too! Thanks for reading.

xoxo Rain✨

Be like Rain. Write for It’s All Good

How To Write For Us

how to have a vacay inside your own mind was originally published in It’s All Good on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.