Why sleep?

© Susannah Wimberley | Frances Barrett - Occupation, 2014

"Walking and sleeping are the two sides of being. Aristotle put it this way: «It is necessary that every creature wich wakes must also be capable of sleeping, since it is impossible that it should be always actualizing its powers.» This makes sense. We know that we have to sleep. We know that sleeplessness makes us cranky, stupid, and sad. And yet, why we sleep, why we dream, and even why we are wakeful - conscious - remain mysteries."

Siri Hustvedt, in Living, Thinking, Looking