If you haven’t already, please read the introduction post. That will give you context for this page.
And now for something a little lighter. Or darker, I guess. Because, y’know, night time. Creature of the night! Night owl.
I’m not an insomniac. I’m a night owl.
I’m not a wannabe vampire. I’m a night owl.
My circadian rhythms have spoken! And, sure, being a night owl can be handy for the rockstar thing and the pale thing, but it obviously puts me at odds with the normal world, produces some complications, and seems to lead to (what I consider) unwarranted mocking and resentment.
People make a lot of assumptions, including a certain loved one who spent years telling me I just wasn’t disciplined enough. Or the many people who think that me waking up at noon is a luxury and I’m lazy. (It’s not; I’m not. I get the 8-9 hours of sleep I need, that’s all, and then I’m stupid busy and don’t even really find time for video games any more.)
But I can tell you that my body temperature confirms my night owl-ness. Really, you can use your body temperature and some mindfulness to figure it out.
And my creative rhythm also confirms it. Not that I wouldn’t stay up late to obey the muse, even if I were a morning lark or day walker or whatever you call normal people.
I don’t think you sunlight kids are less cool. But you’ll have to wait until a little later in the day for me to be awake enough to be legitimately reassuring on that point.
To go a little serious:
- I think a number of people I’ve known, though not all, who seem to suffer insomnia have been trying to force themselves into circadian rhythms other than those their body naturally has. This includes people who stay up late because it’s just what their friends do as much as it includes those forced to sleep the hours their job dictates.
- Sleep is really, really important. Really. Science has proven it (and said so much about it that your cultural disdain of it is really kind of stupid). My life experience has proven it (in dramatic ways). Get sleep. Figure out your rhythms and honour them. Magic!
- I might, in fact, have some resentment that, in this day and age, everyone is still expected to cram themselves into the same sleep cycles.
So, be whatever kind of bird you need to be. Just don’t call or text before noon. (Okay, really, don’t call. I’m never awake enough to love that…)
Cross-posted to the Not Ashamed section of my site (so that it’s all tidy).