There’s a glass of water on my nightstand right now.
I will not drink it.
I never drink it.
And yet, every night, I place it there like I’m preparing for a very specific, very dramatic version of myself who might awaken at 3:17am, parched, reflective, possibly mid–existential crisis and in desperate need of hydration.
She never shows up.
But the water stays.
Psychology would like to gently point out that this isn’t wasteful. It’s regulatory.
That little lineup on your nightstand? The untouched water. The book you’re definitely going to read (you’re not). The inhaler from 2019 “just in case.” That’s not clutter. That’s your nervous system saying, “We’ve got this. If something happens, we’re ready.”
It’s quiet insurance against the unpredictable.
A small, domestic rebellion against uncertainty.
Because here’s the thing. Humans don’t just want safety. We want the feeling of safety. And sometimes that feeling comes not from what we use, but from what we know is there.
It’s the psychological equivalent of checking that the door is locked and then checking it again but make it aesthetic.
We curate these tiny ecosystems of preparedness not because we’re irrational, but because somewhere deep in the brain, a low hum of vigilance is always running in the background. Not loud enough to ruin your day. Just loud enough to whisper, “But what if…”
And instead of arguing with it, we hand it a glass of water.
Here. In case.
So no, I don’t drink the water.
I don’t read the book.
I don’t need the inhaler.
But I sleep better knowing they’re there.
And honestly? That counts as use.
Categories: Culture, Leadership, mental health, Psychology
psychologistmimi 
Air and Water We Can’t Go Without For Long
Dear Miriam Truly Not Only an Illusion of
Control For Safety at Your Bedside Yet
Symbol
Of Life
Free Still
To Come Particularly
In First World Countries
Oh What Relief Fresh Water
Anywhere in Our Sight Intrinsic
Indeed it even Seems Like the Green
Outside of Nature Deep Within Relating
Abundance of Something New to Eat
And Of Course Roofs Over Our Heads
With Centrally Controlled Human Comfortable Temps
to Protect Us
from the More
Severe Elements
of Nature Indeed
Oh Yes and a Soft Bed
Perhaps even Temperature
Controlled too With the Additional
Comfort of a Hot Shower Any Minute
of the Day The Fact is it is No Illusion
Our Tools and Technology Provides Much
Control and Safety too Particularly a Life Saving
Device of an Inhaler for Those With Challenging Breathing Problems
Hehe When i Got a CAT Scan Done of my Sinuses Attempting to get
that Type Two Trigeminal Neuralgia Diagnosed the Two Years it took
Then with another
Pain Doctor the
ENT Doctor for
my Sinuses Exclaimed
How do i Breathe With
A Sinus Cavity So Convoluted
At Birth Just Something else You
Get Used to Breathing Mostly Through Your Mouth
Like Extreme Tactile Sensitivity Protecting Yourself from
Most All Man-Made Materials With Hands Closed Yet Touching
The Grass
And Grains of
Sand With Love
For All Of Mother
Nature Feeling Safe and Secure
Away from Man-Made Stuff For Real
Yet still All the Tools and Technology
Provide Luxury Currently For Survival
And of Course “Luxury Beliefs” in First
World Countries that are as far away
As a Bomb falling on Children for Real
Evolutionary Speaking All Our Closer
And Distant Ancestors Made Quite a
Life or Death Struggle for Us to Arrive Here Now
Some Still Do And Some Days the Most Difficult Struggles
Are the Ones
Our Minds
Invent for Us
Often Illusory
Yet Still the Feelings
of Darkness Are Real
Anyway it Helps to
Be Thirsty to Appreciate
What We Already Have
i Use that Glass of Water
at my Bedside and every
Single Swallow Feels Like Heaven
Yep the Benefit of Getting Thirsty…
What a Gift of Having Two Ways to Breathe too
i Didn’t Do Anything to Earn that Yet my Distant Ancestors
Surely
helped
me to Breathe now
Yet of course i was the Lucky
One as my Son’s Nasal Cavities
Were Completely Blocked Never
Taking a Breath on His Own
Yet still
seeing
the
Light of Day
With Only Pain …
i Do my Best to Stay Thirsty…
Continuing to Breathe every gift it is
for
now
at Least..:)
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