Search This Blog

Monday 6 June 2011

Somewhere it reigns

How does it happen that I am awake and intent on writing at 12:10 in the morning?  Doesn't the rest of my body know that my brain and at least 8 of my fingers are in total rebellion against sleep?  In a perfect world, if the majority of your functioning parts wanted to sleep, the brain would  say perkily and good-naturedly "OK then, I'll just zone out." 

I know it's possible.  It's a reality for some people.  Like Dave, for example.  He says something like, "I'm going to bed now...", he takes off his clothes, arranges his pillows and actually just sleeps after 15 or so breaths.  

I know it's impossible for me.  How many nights of my life have I closed my eyes, squirmed around a bit and known, without the slightest uncertainty, that The Brain is going to be re-running something that happened today or previewing a coming attraction?  The white noise machine, which also has 13 other nature-driven sounds, will burble away, but after an hour, my mind will still be rambling, imaginary rashes will attack my wrists, I'll start to crave frozen yoghurt or I'll zombie-like turn on Law & Order.

The really sad part of this is that creativity obviously can sleep through the most fevered pounding at the keyboard.  Fatuousness crawls out from its hiding place, spelling gets really, realy hard and nothing can convince me that I won't have an amusing post if I just keep writing.

I actually have pink lemonade flavoured frozen yoghurt, Law & Order is on TV somewhere and the battle for good and evil can wait for another day to be chronicled. 

Sanity rains.

5 comments:

  1. Seems pretty creative to me. I had some trouble last night too. I had birthday cake at supper, and things sugary tend to send my body temperature soaring and that makes my legs feel cold. I know: I'm weird.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always admire people like Dave that can go to sleep like that, I'm like you. I used to wonder if I was being unfair to Matthew when I as the parent suddenly say "Time for Bed Buddy!"; and he is somehow supposed to sleep right away :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hate people that can just shut their eyes & go to sleep in minutes; but truly amazing how he sleeps thru all your shenanigans. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm one of those people who can usually fall asleep right away. Unfortunately, I often wake up three or four hours later and then toss and turn for hours! Blogging is GREAT thing to do in the middle of the night. :))

    ReplyDelete
  5. Boy, do I resonate with this post. I've been an insomniac with mind on fast forward all my life. The difference between you and me is that I snack inappropriately (yogurt would be OK, potato chips not) and I read, read and read. If all else fails, I take a pill. Over the years I have followed you I've known that our basic natures are the same so it doesn't surprise me to read this post. I like to pretend I am not an anxious person but I suppose that I chronically am. My ex was like Dave, by the way. It always annoyed me and I got sleep envy.

    ReplyDelete