Blog On

Sleep, Sweet Sleep

Well, this Monday I feel like I'm waking up from a long nap. I don't know if I actually require more sleep than an average person, or I just take advantage of the opportunity to sleep when I get it. It's almost an embarrassing situation.

My usual sleeping pattern is to go to bed some time betwwen 2:00 am and 4:00 am. I sleep till noon, or 2:00 in the afternoon if I don't have anything planned. I enjoy sitting at the computer in the early dark hours of the morning. It's so quiet and still. The only sounds are the snoring of the big dog, and the soft, soothing music of "Soundscapes" on the Comcast cable radio channel. "Soundscapes" plays new age music, Celtic tunes, meditation, some Native American musical tunes, all sorts of very relaxing music. I kind of slip into another realm of consciousness, a very relaxed, no problems, kind of attitude comes over me. I write, and think, and write some more.

I laid down on the sofa that's within earshot of the computer the other night, and I woke up two hours later. I found a web site with a series of 10 minute meditations, and I drifted right off. That kind of sleep has to be very recouperative.

You'd think I'd get caught up with my sleep, but I'm always ready to stay in bed when it gets to be morning. I read in "the Writer" magazine this month that one needs to be very kind to their muse by making sure she gets enough rest, and exercise. I guess I'm doing the rest part right.

The only problem is that I run out of daylight when I don't get started till afternoon. Since the time change, I do have another hour of light, so maybe I'll be reaching a happy medium soon. I don't mean to be sleeping my life away, but I enjoy sleep SO MUCH!

I slept a lot of hours Sunday, intending to stay up all night in order to take my mom for her cataracts surgery at 6:00 am on Monday. Wouldn't you know, by 2:30 am, I started getting sleepy. I went to bed but couldn't go to sleep. It's either feast or famine. If I HAVE to go to sleep, I can't. Pressure! I drifted off about 4:30, and the alarm was set for 5:00. I'm real bad about going back to sleep by accident, but I managed to get up, get coffee started, and get in the shower.

I told the dogs that "mama" can't believe she used to get up at that hour every Monday through Friday when she was teaching. It seems so long ago and far away. I keep thinking that the income from teaching would be nice to have, but the 5:00 am darkness had me thinking about really dealing with day so early every day again. I don't know if I could do it. I don't have to decide now.

Mom's surgery went fine, as far as I can tell. We both took a nap when we got back from the doctor. I stayed up with her awhile this afternoon, ran her vacuum cleaner, then came back to my house to appease the dogs, and spend some time at the computer. After running the vacuum cleaner over my floors, and paying my latest speeding ticket, it's time to get back to mom's for the evening.

She's not real steady on her feet, so I'm going to spend the night with her. We go back to her doctor at 8:00 am tomorrow. If I ever get a normal routine, maybe I'll stick to it.

I kind of think the sleeping may be a symptom of depression. I'm not actually depressed about anything now, it's just the stress of the past few weeks. I remember when I quit smoking before that I spent a lot of time sleeping--so I wouldn't be thinking about not smoking. I should be past that now. It's been over three months, but I could still smoke a pack if I had one.

I've got to start exercising in some way, and I'm sure that would help the over-sleeping too. In the meantime, I guess I'll just enjoy the sleep while I can. Pleasant dreams to all.