For the past fifty nights, i have not slept well, going to bed very late, staying awake a long time, waking frequently, and rising early. Last night i got the best night's sleep i have had in a while, maybe ever!
I am a nocturnal member of a diurnal species. My biological clock must have been set wrong at birth; added to that is the fact that i love the night; it has day beat six ways to Sunday. My reasons for preferring night are psychological, aesthetic, social, and spiritual Almost as soon as i could toddle, i snuck from my room to explore the darkness.
When i was young and middle aged, this did not bother me, and as a married man, i liked to sleep beside my spouse, who slept at night.. At any rate it was easy to have both a day life and a "night life." I could sleep for six or four or two hours and still put in a reasonably productive day (unless my day involved late afternoon scheduled meetings where "business" was to be discussed)/ I could keep one foot solidly planted in the day world, the other, in the night.
In old age, i pay for wakeful nights with sleepy days. Thurssay evening, i slept through "final Jeopardy" and then through the time of my Al Anon meeting. Oh, tine! I have seven hours of my week committed and i missed one of them, I would start my "discipline by setting limits on my waking day. I would go go bed at 10pm and awaken eight hours later. If i needed a sleep aid to get in the habit, i would take one.
So i went to bed at 11, fell asleep quickly without a pill, slept FOUR hours, woke long enough to use the batroom, slept another FIVE hours. A prayer of gratitude was in order and i complied.
So far (3pm) my head has not fallen onto my keyboard, into my coffee, or any other inconvenient place.
When i was young and middle aged, this did not bother me, and as a married man, i liked to sleep beside my spouse, who slept at night.. At any rate it was easy to have both a day life and a "night life." I could sleep for six or four or two hours and still put in a reasonably productive day (unless my day involved late afternoon scheduled meetings where "business" was to be discussed)/ I could keep one foot solidly planted in the day world, the other, in the night.
In old age, i pay for wakeful nights with sleepy days. Thurssay evening, i slept through "final Jeopardy" and then through the time of my Al Anon meeting. Oh, tine! I have seven hours of my week committed and i missed one of them, I would start my "discipline by setting limits on my waking day. I would go go bed at 10pm and awaken eight hours later. If i needed a sleep aid to get in the habit, i would take one.
So i went to bed at 11, fell asleep quickly without a pill, slept FOUR hours, woke long enough to use the batroom, slept another FIVE hours. A prayer of gratitude was in order and i complied.
So far (3pm) my head has not fallen onto my keyboard, into my coffee, or any other inconvenient place.
Comments
I always have been an early bird and after 9pm I'm useless to the world, but I can get up at 5am and work right away without any problems.
I do believe going against those inner rhythms can't be healthy.
I'm glad you can basically sleep and be awake as you please.
Hopefully you can find a way to find a schedule that allows you to participate in the social events you care about. Since - I assume - they tend to be at night, perhaps you can sleep more day hours?
I so wish you adventure and delight in finding new or old rhythms.
Congratulations on your good night's sleep. I'm with abendstille, though ... with so few scheduled activities in your life, couldn't you just sleep more in the day and enjoy the night?
All the time I was growing up, and I don't know how long before, my grandfather went to bed at 7:30 pm, rose at 3:30 am, and took a nap after "dinner" (midday meal). My grandmother, his wife, went to bed at 1 am and rose at 9 am. They slept in the same bed for those 2.5 overlapping hours. Whatever works for you ... it's one of the tiny luxuries of singlehood, you know? Like eating all the garlic and onions you want. You no longer have to compromise. Dianne, I am sure, no longer sleeps ... if you want to talk to her at 3am, she'll be listening.
Love
R