Ever been a sleepwalker?

I think we all have—especially during this last pandemic year.

According to experts, sleepwalking can be the result of a variety of causes, such as stress, fatigue, anxiety or lack of sleep.

Whatever the clinical definition is, I can tell you from personal experience what it feels like: You’re awake. But you’re not. You’re looking right at people. But you’re not.

You are physically in the room, but your head has gone to Mars.

And lately, it seems to me, many of us can be caught sleepwalking…through life. Especially during this last pandemic year.

Like when you meet someone for the first time, they tell you their name, you hear it—but 30 seconds later you can’t remember it—because you weren’t really there, mentally present.

Or when you’ re listening to a friend, and having a “squirrel” moment, and before you know it, you realize you didn’t actually hear anything your friend just said.

Or maybe you’ve been the one talking, and at one point you notice that your friend—though right in front of you– is looking beyond you at something—anything—else.

We’ve missed “being present” this past year, with so much Zoom calling—when we don’t show our faces, when it’s obvious that someone is multitasking, when we keep leaving the “room” to do whatever. I can understand why people say they’re “Zoomed out.” Face to face contact includes vibes and mojo and chemistry that just don’t happen with a Brady Bunch arrangement on a one-dimensional screen. 

We’re there, but we’re not. 

But better days are coming. And this episode will encourage you–when more face-to-face contact re-emerges—to know the joy of your mind and your body actually occupying the same space.