Rosa Liksom: Insomnia
The first time I lived abroad was when I got a pretty good job offer in Stockholm. It was a step forward in my career. Up until then I'd always lived in good old Helsinki. I'd studied at the U of Technology and worked all through the college years as a software engineer and later as a software specialist. I was a healthy bloke even though I didn't go for outdoor stuff or sports. I've always been more of an indoor kind of guy, my favourite spot is by my PC.
About the same time when I started the Systems Manager's job in Stockholm, I began to get sick. At first it was just the usual stomach pains and heartburn, and I didn't take much notice. I worked round the clock and had really great drive. But in spite of the good vibes, the stomach pains just got worse. I stopped myself for a second and tried to figure out why my machinery was playing up. I decided the reason was that I wasn't looking after myself properly. I replaced my chocolate and Coca-Cola breakfast with a bottle of health drink, and sometimes late at night I might stop by McDonald's and nosh something small. I didn't booze or party.
Despite my healthy habits the stomach pains got worse, and by the time I was offered a job in New York, I had a gastric ulcer. The bleeding freaked me out so much that after I got settled in New York, I bought a couple of pot plants to put by my computer. Green is known to be soothing. And it really did help a bit. I got so much into this self-treatment stuff that I started a herbal diet. Chewed on St John's wort and oat sprouts while I was writing code, and washed it all down with Swedish Bitters. Believe it or not, my stomach troubles faded away. I really liked it in New York and my job was pleasantly challenging. I lived in an apartment hotel on Upper East Side and always took a cab to work. My room at work was a windowless cubicle on the sixteenth floor, just the sort of place I really like. I was developing new systems and making profits. My stomach was totally cool and in general I was feeling light and serene. For a while I thought that everything was finally OK, but then my back and lungs let me down. In spite of the pain I was ready to move to Silicon Valley, where a job as a Technical Specialist awaited me.
When I touched down in California after the long flight, I noticed to my great surprise that all my pains were gone. Oh Jesus, I was just floating. However, there was a bit of a surprise waiting for me. After the first day at work I took a cab to the hotel, lit my lavender lamp, put on my blinders and earplugs like I always do, but I just couldn't sleep! Imagine the state I was in: First time in all of my thirty-four years that sleep just wouldn't come to my eyes. It was the worst night of my life so far.
Now I've been awake for almost four weeks, and during that time I've gotten through every professional helper I can think of. But so far nothing's helped. My stone healer says that I'm allergic to computers and that's causing all my problems and the astrologer insists that Mercury receding causes changes in the energy fields and that's what's behind all my problems too. This morning I placed a call from here in the Silicon Valley to Savo in the backwoods of Finland, to a clairvoyant. She reassured me that tomorrow I'll get back my gift of sleep, when the Earth's energy fields move in a new direction. I believe in that theory 100 per cent and I know that tomorrow I'll fall into a deep and peaceful sleep.
Rosa Liksom
