Kleine-Levin Syndrome

 

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Disambiguation

Or

Unfulfilled Closure

        “Long you live and high you fly; smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry; and all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.” (Pink Floyd: Breathe)      

        There was a film in 1993 starring Bill Murray titled “Groundhog Day”, in which he relived the same day over and over and over again; this article is not about that. This is more about platitudes and the Kleine-Levin Syndrome.

        Is it telling that we cremate loved ones and put them up on shelves instead of burying them? Consider: “So, there’s good old whatshisname (in the box/jar/urn), up there next to the San Marzano canned tomatoes” or: “over by the window (the better for them to enjoy the sunrise/set) atop their copy of Kahil Gibran’s The Prophet” or perhaps they have their own shelf, an altar if you will, with maybe a battery operated perpetual candle, a bell, a book, maybe some plastic flowers, seashells, a chance for us to grieve in little increments as we get on with our busy life. A chance to look back and then a chance to back away… what’s done is done.

        The alternative, of course, would have been a hole in the ground or an upper berth in a corner mausoleum where we could’ve wailed, tore our hair, rent our clothing and maybe thrown ourselves (despondent) on top of the casket before it was lowered (or raised). A visit now and then would be in order. A chat, perhaps some freshening of the site, throw pillows, more flowers. “Boohoo, I miss you” and time marches on.

        “and then one day, you find… ten years have got behind you; no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun” (Pink Floyd: Time)

        Face it, nobody’s perfect, we’re somnambulating through most of our lives and are roused by reminders of what we missed, times we had and situations we have left unresolved and…. some that we have buried (or left unburied). And then we hellishly try to catch up. We wake to find that time has passed, years maybe; the kids have grown; we’re no longer young; it was just there the other day and suddenly “it ain’t dere no more”; who knows where the time goes? The cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon; little boy blue and the man in the moon. We can only do what we can do.

        Gurus tell you: ‘Be Here Now’; an ex-alcoholic: ‘One day at a time’; Yogis recommend: ‘meditation and repetition of your mantra’; your bartender will tell you to ‘go sleep it off’; your shrink asks ‘how you feel about it’ and your family will pose: ‘what the hell is wrong with you?’ Grandma offers cookies. Your BFF takes you to lunch. Meher Baba says: “Don’t worry, be happy”.

        We were so ahead of ourselves that we we’re the ones that were left behind. We sometimes meet ourselves coming back from where we’re going and may become momentarily discombobulated: impulse full power; boomeranged and deranged. I’m so confused. “There’s someone in my head but it’s not me” (Brain Damage 1973)

        Asleep at the wheel as life passes us by? Not quite; it’s more like we’re paying so much attention to the bumps; potholes; road debris; reckless drivers; stop signs; school zones; detours on our life’s highways. So much to do, so little of it getting done and there it all is in the rear view mirror and I’m coming up on things I need to do now and I’m on overload and I need a nap!

        Okay, so now let’s examine the Kleine-Levin Syndrome, sometimes called Sleeping Beauty Sickness; it’s not common enough to be in our faces except that it can appear in a varying functional degrees. Sleeping 20-22 hours a day, sometimes for weeks, months and in some cases up to a year; getting up to gorge, exercise bodily functions (such as bowel movements)  and/or increased sexual impulses; confusion, befuddlement, anxiousness, sometimes exhibiting violent behavior and then back to sleep. At times having to be told what went on in the world and life while unconscious. I posit that there is a distinct possibility that we all have it to some extent. You close your eyes for a moment, perhaps you feel like napping in the afternoon, you fall asleep on a bus, in a car, at a movie: time marches on; where did you go when the world went on without you? Away? Where is ‘Away’ anyway?

        When one door closes… I often think that if I wasn’t reminded by environment and familiarity of people present when I woke in the morning that I wouldn’t know who I am and where I am and what the hell I was doing in this place; then I awake, recognize some stuff and I’m back to being who I am in this reality, “if happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow why can’t I?” (Dorothy). Where do I go in my daydreams, in my nightmares? And there I am remembering that I’m late with a bill or birthday card. “Curiouser and curiouser” (Alice); why?

        Because. The fact that you don’t get to use the limitless potential of your brain and intelligence doesn’t mean that it doesn’t strive to be used; that goes for your emotions, feelings and spiritual development. Your brain goes into overdrive and for no apparent reason you’re drained of energy. It’s a call to step back, like it or not; but you say: “there’s so much I have to do!”

                I say “don’t take the rap!” Sometimes you just have to “Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together” (Elizabeth Taylor)  or: “Drink some coffee, put on some gangster rap and handle it.” (Martina Simonova) or just sit back and let things work out. Remember, this ain’t a contest; you’re doing the best that you can. Do what you do; you got this.