For Virginia Woolf a moment of being is a moment when an individual is fully conscious of his experience, a moment when he is not only aware of himself but can catch a glimpse of his connection to a larger pattern hidden behind the opaque surface of daily life. Moments of being don't reveal something important for the character, as epiphanies in Joyce, but they provide energy and awareness that allow the character who experiences them to see life more clearly and more fully. Unlike moments of not-being, when the individual lives and acts without awareness, performing acts as if a sleep, the moment of being opens up a hidden reality.