Jeanne Joe Perrone

I was drowning in stuff, and felt constantly tired — even though I’d made an art out of trading in my old clothes at secondhand stores, minimizing expenses, and sharing apartments with strangers. Something felt fiscally oppressive despite the fact that I’ve never owned a house, a car, or anything larger than my bed.

Once I was a good Christian woman. I was president of the abstinence club; now I support Planned Parenthood. How did I go from an evangelical Christian upbringing to this total change of heart? Do I want to make Jesus cry? What happened to me!?!

Let’s talk about sex — Sex and the City, that is. (Wink wink, groan groan.)

It has also happened to countless others from every culture and time in human history: Sleep paralysis, a fairly common sleep disorder that has almost always been associated with supernatural horror.

Part of the problem with defining yourself in negatives (i.e. not religious) is that it’s hard to pinpoint what you actually do stand for.