Wednesday, June 04, 2008

"I know why you're always tired..."

I was telling my friend Steve that I always fall asleep places--in school, at church, and now, each morning during my Barbri review class.

"My family--" I said, "we can fall asleep anywhere. It's a family thing. We heard once that you know you're under-rested when you can lay down on the floor of your office and fall asleep in ten minutes. We laughed when we heard that because we can always fall asleep, almost anywhere and at anytime." Steve looked nonplussed. "It's a family thing," I said. He said nothing.

Tonight, I called to ask him a Barbri question, and halfway through the conversation, Steve interjected emphatically (emphasis like this being something of an anomaly with him): "I know why you're always tired. I see your light on in gchat until like...two in the morning! Falling asleep in class. Ha! It's not a family thing. You're tired because you stay up late!"

I laughed. I laugh. I thought back to two nights ago, when some new boys were over, and one said to me, "Are you a night owl?" and I began to say "not really," when Michelle made a sort of snorting/knowing/objecting noise, and I looked at her, and she said, "You are a night owl. Yes, you are!" She turned to the boys and said, "I go to bed, and when I wake up, Sarah tells me things that happened to her after she went to sleep. Things she's learned, conversations she's had, things she's done. Sarah has this entire life after I go to sleep."

(Note: Last night after Michelle went to sleep, I drove her car to Las Vegas. And back again.)

I remembered back to my second year of college, when I had a roommate who went to bed consistently and uncomplainingly at 9 pm. She did work early in the morning, admittedly, but to go to bed, every night, during the summer, at 9 pm STILL requires discipline and decision-making the likes of which I had not yet theretofore seen. So, one day, I asked her: "Jacqui, how do you know when it's time for you to go to sleep? How do you decide when your day is done and you should go to sleep?" She said, almost without blinking, "I go to bed when I've done everything I need to do." I was baffled. She had a to-do list. When she'd completed it, she went to sleep. Wash dishes--check. Fold laundry--check. Do visiting teaching--check. Next up? Bed--check.

I realized then that I was a sort of nocturnal optimist--that each night I stayed up late and late and later, waiting, waiting, waiting, just in case the best part of my day was still ahead of me. Thinking (irrationally, I know) that if I stayed up just a little bit longer, the day might bring its best treasures. Boys? Lovin'? Cookies? Transcendence? I'm not sure exactly what, but something. Something GREAT.

Having identified it--and becoming more committed to the sheer and almost overwhelming goodness of sleep--I thought I had left those voluntarily nocturnal ways behind. I really, honestly thought I had become a different girl, more committed to sleep, to good habits, to daytime living than I was in my pre-grad youth. All these years--all these years, I thought I'd changed.

But it is 12:41 am, and I am up entirely at my own volition. And when I'm falling asleep tomorrow during my review class (as I inevitably will), maybe it will not be the product of some mysterious narcoleptic family tendencies. Maybe it will be because I went to bed--again, again, for the umpteenth night in a row--at an indecent and ungodly* hour.

*
"Retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." D&C 88:124

7 comments:

Melissa said...

I love staying up late. I also love sleeping. I agree, the conflict is just terrible.

Christina and Ryan said...

Sarah, you are looking at this from the wrong perspective. You are not tired because you go to bed late, you are tired because you wake up early. You want to get the most out of your night AND day. It's a good thing.

ambrosia ananas said...

[laughs] I do that, too. In college, I always had this sneaking suspicion that the real fun would start just after I left and went to bed. So I wouldn't. I still don't like going to bed, because I never feel like I've done enough in my day.

Headle said...

Sarah,
I adore this post!!
And, I can totally relate. I feel like my best creative energy comes when the house is quiet.

Your love of life is contagious!! I think its a good thing you have longer days too, the more Sarah for the world to enjoy, the better. :)

Peter said...

Sarah, my penchant for everywheresleep has been on my mind a great deal recently, so your post hit home. But I need to say that even if there is a well-defined cause that each of us can point to for our sleep problems, it is nice to know we all have those causes. Yes, we stay up late and as a result fall asleep at inopportune times. But we all do it as a family, routinely, separately, and together. Everywhere.

Jo said...

I wish I could be posting 20 minutes later, so that my comment could correspond with your post time, but its really not that late if you consider that in china its 3pm right now...
I guess i need to choose a time zone and stick with it, however, I would state that I agree, the waiting just in case the best part is yet to come... and it is you know...

dreams.

Marissa said...

I lived a similar way until junior year of college. I never saw the point of getting enough sleep. It seemed like a waste of time. I only started to go to bed early (11:30) so that I could wake up to enjoy breakfast at college. Food was the only motivation that worked. I don't like the idea of missing out on fun but I dislike not participating fully the waking hours I have less. I had to learn that sleep was a pleasure. You're a pleasure too, you and your family's sleeping in church-ness.