I've spent most of my life getting as little sleep as possible. Since I don't have insomnia, narcolepsy or any other trendy new sleeping habits, my attempts have usually culminated in getting 4-6 hours of sleep for a few nights in a row and then getting 12 hours when I can't take that shit anymore. My habits were self-induced sometimes because of Asthma, but just as often because of the sexyness and mystique of restlessness and stories of admirable people who didn't sleep much.
Interestingly enough, when I moved out of my parents house, I didn't turn into a cliche youngster, burning the midnight oil for... some reason, and staying up all hours of the night looking for liquor and whores; or whatever it is young men are supposed to do. Instead, I've turned into Benjamin Franklin, early to bed and early to rise; usually sleeping 9-10 hours a night.
Changing my mind is one of my favorite things to do in life. It doesn't come easily for me like it does for the majority population of flakes and neurotics, so I've got to come clean on this one. Sleep is important. Skipping hours every night is just as bad for the mental form as skipping meals for the physical one. It can be done, and should be, when time needs to be bought once in a while. But the reasoning to be a lifestyle sleep hater falls flat.
Buying "waking hours" by cutting your sleeping (or just lying in bed) time, is probably not worthwhile. I've found that any time that I've forced myself to be awake needlessly is simply more depressing, more out of focus, and stretches on forever. It's a ridiculous reality to embrace; trading your unconscious problem solving time and recooperative rest for more "productive" hours.
Though personal and anecdotal; I can tell you that I feel more powerful, curious, effective and stronger than I ever have before, and I am almost certain it's because of sleeping 7 days straight as long as I pleased, guiltlessly.
I don't know why I ever thought being awake was so cool.
3 comments:
Just because someone makes something seem "sexy" or "attractive" doesn't mean that it really is. Like being a drunkard, very few people can make various deviant lifestyles cool. There are scores of people who really suck that adhere to those lifestyles.
And yes, being awake sucks. Your dreams/nightmares are so much better.
yeah, i agree with you wholehartedly. for a while, i was going on very little sleep and then i began to realize that if my body is telling me to go to bed and i have nothing else going on (which is typically the case) then i should probably go to sleep.
back in the "good" old "days" when people aligned their sleeping-waking schedule with the sun, people typically got 9-10 hours of sleep a night as opposed to the 6.25 on average that has been instilled in us by our bourgeois slave-masters.
also, i find lying down is typically when my imagination is the most vivid. as such, i wouldn't recommend that people leap right out of bed, but rather spend some time listening to their subconscious thoughts before they can be mediated/suppressed by daily concerns.
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