Since coming back from Nepal, I haven't been able to wake up. I told Shin the other day, "I went to Sleepyland but I got stuck there. The trains broke down so I couldn't get a ride back until er, very late."

Shin and I love going to sleepyland. You can go there any time you know - you just catch a train, and you're there. The trains go to and fro very fast. It's always beautiful there and you can do anything you want. Sometimes, it's so nice, you just never come back. Even when the alarm clock rings, it's very easy to just hit the snooze button and go back to sleepyland again.

This is a problem, of course, because then you just don't get things done and it's not a very productive way of living. And you can't NOT go to sleepyland because it's a bodily necessity. You HAVE to go there, and then you have to find a way to get out, which is proving very difficult.

So I shall have to force my way out of it, no matter how many invitations they send me.

I thought long and hard about how I'd get myself out, and finally, have decided to take a formal vow in front of my altar to wake up before 8am for the next week.

Can you believe it. People make wonderful, big, aspirations: "Dear Buddha, may I transform my mind to embody all your enlightened qualities and gain wisdom and compassion to help all sentient beings; may I learn to let go of my selfish attachments and learn to live for others; may I realise the 6 paramitas and gain enlightenment."

I sat in front of my altar and said, "Dear Buddha, I promise I'll wake up no later than 8am from Monday to Friday. Please help me."

Well, they say that with spiritual practice you have to start where you are. And well, I can't be wishing for world peace when I can't even get out of bed in the morning. Bombs could be going off around me and I wouldn't know. If I vow to wake up early, then at least I could try to do something about the bombs.

So, I shall be up and about early early tomorrow and I have great plans for the day!