We Tried to Relax
and Now We’re Anxious About It
and Now We’re Anxious About It
Let’s be brutally honest: we are tired.
And not in that whimsical “oh I stayed up too late watching the moon” kind of way.
No — we’re dry-battery, empty-socket, my-soul-is-buffering kind of tired.
The kind of tired that comes not from physical exhaustion, but from chronic emotional overstimulation in a world that doesn't shut up.
We lie in bed, desperate to sleep, but instead we scroll, spiral, review our entire personality, and mentally redesign our lives.
We know we need rest.
We know we’re wrecking ourselves.
And yet… we can’t stop.
Apparently, we’d rather track our REM cycles on three apps than admit we’re just emotionally overloaded
and spiritually fried.
and spiritually fried.
In fact, we’re doubling down.
Global searches for “how to sleep better” have skyrocketed, while the wellness industry keeps tossing us $90 sleep sprays and blue light glasses that make us look like depressed DJs.
According to market reports, the sleep tech industry alone is set to hit over $40 billion by 2027 — which is wild, considering most of us still wake up feeling like a dropped iPhone.
Let’s Get One Thing Straight: You Are Not Broken
Insomnia isn’t just a medical issue anymore — it’s a collective ritual.
A modern initiation.
If you’ve never stared at the ceiling wondering whether you’re sleep-deprived or just emotionally dehydrated, are you even alive in 2025?
We didn’t choose this, by the way.
No one wakes up thinking: “Today I will sabotage my circadian rhythm, deny myself real rest, and end the day by panic-scrolling real estate listings in cities I’ll never afford.”
It just… happens. Slowly.
And then suddenly it’s normal.
Trained to Be Tired
From a young age, we were taught to strive, achieve, produce.
"Don’t be lazy."
"Make something of yourself."
"Rest is for the weak."
No one ever said, “Hey, your nervous system deserves peace. Let's learn how to down-regulate together.”
Instead, we got gold stars for being exhausted.
We built self-worth on achievement.
We praised people who were "always busy" like it was a moral virtue.
And now we’re here — adulting with anxious brains, sleep debt, and a list of self-care to-dos that feels more like a corporate onboarding manual than actual rest.
Welcome to the Ritual of Rest-Related Anxiety
Let’s talk about rest-anxiety.
That feeling when you finally stop working, sit down to rest… and immediately feel like you’re doing something wrong.
You think:
"Should I be doing something productive right now?"
"Maybe I should stretch. Or journal. Or read a book about healing. Or meditate with some nice jazz thunderstorm background sounds."
And suddenly you’re stressed about relaxing.
Which defeats the whole point.
We’ve been taught to treat rest like a performance.
It’s not enough to nap — now you have to nap with intention, with proper brainwave-aligned music, a silk eye mask, and seven sprays of lavender.
If you didn’t post a story about it, did it even count?
This is what we do:
— Burn out
— Feel guilty
— Attempt “rest” through carefully curated rituals
— Feel guilty for not enjoying them
— Repeat
Insomnia: Symptom, Signal, or New Identity?
For some, insomnia is clinical. For others, it’s behavioral.
For many of us, it’s just the background music of life.
We lie in bed, unable to shut off the simulation:
Insomnia is your brain’s overachieving way of saying,
“Look, I know it’s dark and quiet, but I’d rather rehearse all the things that could go wrong in the next 40 years than allow you a full REM cycle. You’re welcome.”
According to sleep research, nearly one in three adults worldwide suffers from some form of sleep dysfunction. And that’s just the clinically recognized cases. Add the “functionally sleep-deprived but pretending we’re fine” demographic, and the numbers go through the roof.
Oh, and the global sleep aid market?
It’s expected to reach $112 billion by 2030.
So yeah, your exhaustion is profitable.
Sleep Tips That Make Us Want to Scream Into a Pillow
Here are the classics:
But when your brain is wired like a suspicious raccoon at 2 a.m., no lavender diffuser is going to save you.
Insomnia isn’t about sleep. It’s about tension.
Internal, invisible tension.
The kind you can’t stretch out with yoga or cure with melatonin.
Sometimes it’s trauma.
Sometimes it’s lifestyle.
Sometimes it’s the echo of your eighth-grade teacher’s voice saying you’re not trying hard enough.
But mostly — it’s your body saying:
“I don’t feel safe enough to let go.”
The Secret Nobody Told Us: Rest Requires Safety
Here’s the truth they don’t put on wellness podcasts:
Rest is not something you earn. It’s something you reclaim.
It’s not passive. It’s radical.
Because resting in a world that wants you constantly engaged, available, and self-optimizing… takes guts.
Letting yourself nap? Brave.
Ignoring the to-do list for an hour? Rebellious.
Sleeping eight hours without guilt? Revolutionary.
We were trained to deserve rest.
But you don’t need to be good enough, productive enough, or enlightened enough to stop.
You just need to be a human.
And guess what?
Humans are allowed to rest. Full stop.
What We Actually Need (Spoiler: Not a $140 Weighted Blanket)
We need less pressure to “sleep well” and more space to feel safe.
We need nervous systems that don’t feel like fire alarms.
We need gentleness. Softness.
And a hell of a lot less noise.
Here are some ideas — not tips, not fixes. Just reminders:
A Love Letter to the Wide-Awake
To everyone who lies in bed feeling broken, guilty, restless, or alone — this is for you.
You’re not failing.
You’re responding to a world that never taught you how to stop.
Your insomnia is not your enemy.
It’s a signal that something inside you is asking for space. For quiet. For softness.
So next time you're staring at the ceiling thinking “what’s wrong with me,” maybe whisper this instead:
“Nothing’s wrong with me.
I’m just really, deeply, beautifully tired.
And I deserve to rest — without explanation.”
Insomnia isn’t just a medical issue anymore — it’s a collective ritual.
A modern initiation.
If you’ve never stared at the ceiling wondering whether you’re sleep-deprived or just emotionally dehydrated, are you even alive in 2025?
We didn’t choose this, by the way.
No one wakes up thinking: “Today I will sabotage my circadian rhythm, deny myself real rest, and end the day by panic-scrolling real estate listings in cities I’ll never afford.”
It just… happens. Slowly.
And then suddenly it’s normal.
Trained to Be Tired
From a young age, we were taught to strive, achieve, produce.
"Don’t be lazy."
"Make something of yourself."
"Rest is for the weak."
No one ever said, “Hey, your nervous system deserves peace. Let's learn how to down-regulate together.”
Instead, we got gold stars for being exhausted.
We built self-worth on achievement.
We praised people who were "always busy" like it was a moral virtue.
And now we’re here — adulting with anxious brains, sleep debt, and a list of self-care to-dos that feels more like a corporate onboarding manual than actual rest.
Welcome to the Ritual of Rest-Related Anxiety
Let’s talk about rest-anxiety.
That feeling when you finally stop working, sit down to rest… and immediately feel like you’re doing something wrong.
You think:
"Should I be doing something productive right now?"
"Maybe I should stretch. Or journal. Or read a book about healing. Or meditate with some nice jazz thunderstorm background sounds."
And suddenly you’re stressed about relaxing.
Which defeats the whole point.
We’ve been taught to treat rest like a performance.
It’s not enough to nap — now you have to nap with intention, with proper brainwave-aligned music, a silk eye mask, and seven sprays of lavender.
If you didn’t post a story about it, did it even count?
This is what we do:
— Burn out
— Feel guilty
— Attempt “rest” through carefully curated rituals
— Feel guilty for not enjoying them
— Repeat
Insomnia: Symptom, Signal, or New Identity?
For some, insomnia is clinical. For others, it’s behavioral.
For many of us, it’s just the background music of life.
We lie in bed, unable to shut off the simulation:
- That thing you said to your boss in 2021
- Whether your dog is happy
- The weird way someone texted “haha” instead of “lol”
- The realization that you’ve never truly relaxed without having to earn it first
Insomnia is your brain’s overachieving way of saying,
“Look, I know it’s dark and quiet, but I’d rather rehearse all the things that could go wrong in the next 40 years than allow you a full REM cycle. You’re welcome.”
According to sleep research, nearly one in three adults worldwide suffers from some form of sleep dysfunction. And that’s just the clinically recognized cases. Add the “functionally sleep-deprived but pretending we’re fine” demographic, and the numbers go through the roof.
Oh, and the global sleep aid market?
It’s expected to reach $112 billion by 2030.
So yeah, your exhaustion is profitable.
Sleep Tips That Make Us Want to Scream Into a Pillow
Here are the classics:
- No screens after 9 p.m.
- Don’t eat past 6.
- Make your bedroom a tech-free, sacred temple.
- Avoid stressful conversations before bed (lol, sure).
- Journal your worries, then burn the paper under the moonlight while singing an Enya song.
But when your brain is wired like a suspicious raccoon at 2 a.m., no lavender diffuser is going to save you.
Insomnia isn’t about sleep. It’s about tension.
Internal, invisible tension.
The kind you can’t stretch out with yoga or cure with melatonin.
Sometimes it’s trauma.
Sometimes it’s lifestyle.
Sometimes it’s the echo of your eighth-grade teacher’s voice saying you’re not trying hard enough.
But mostly — it’s your body saying:
“I don’t feel safe enough to let go.”
The Secret Nobody Told Us: Rest Requires Safety
Here’s the truth they don’t put on wellness podcasts:
Rest is not something you earn. It’s something you reclaim.
It’s not passive. It’s radical.
Because resting in a world that wants you constantly engaged, available, and self-optimizing… takes guts.
Letting yourself nap? Brave.
Ignoring the to-do list for an hour? Rebellious.
Sleeping eight hours without guilt? Revolutionary.
We were trained to deserve rest.
But you don’t need to be good enough, productive enough, or enlightened enough to stop.
You just need to be a human.
And guess what?
Humans are allowed to rest. Full stop.
What We Actually Need (Spoiler: Not a $140 Weighted Blanket)
We need less pressure to “sleep well” and more space to feel safe.
We need nervous systems that don’t feel like fire alarms.
We need gentleness. Softness.
And a hell of a lot less noise.
Here are some ideas — not tips, not fixes. Just reminders:
- You’re not lazy. You’re tired. There’s a difference.
- Rest doesn’t have to look good. It just has to feel okay.
- It’s normal to feel weird when you start to slow down. That’s detox. Stay with it.
- If you’re tired, you don’t have to prove it. You can just rest.
- You don’t need another productivity hack. You need permission.
A Love Letter to the Wide-Awake
To everyone who lies in bed feeling broken, guilty, restless, or alone — this is for you.
You’re not failing.
You’re responding to a world that never taught you how to stop.
Your insomnia is not your enemy.
It’s a signal that something inside you is asking for space. For quiet. For softness.
So next time you're staring at the ceiling thinking “what’s wrong with me,” maybe whisper this instead:
“Nothing’s wrong with me.
I’m just really, deeply, beautifully tired.
And I deserve to rest — without explanation.”
