Don't Go Back to Sleep
We have all been advised to get that seven to eight hours of sleep each night. My complete and comprehensive ‘Google’ search-the ultimate expert on all things- often warns us that lack of sleep can lead to an exhaustive list of medical conditions including the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease-two of the things I fear the most. If ever in my life I actually slept eight hours I would claim it a holiday- or night - of miracles. I’d write it on my calendar and celebrate it every year. And I’m sure my husband would have been checking repeatedly to make sure I was still breathing. I seem to be able to function with 5 or 6 hours of sleep tops and often find the wee hours of the morning to be my most productive and creative.
More than a decade ago- when day had long faded into night and the cuckoo clock had even retired, I turned on PBS and one of the specials by the late Wayne Dyer. I remember him saying that waking up early and not going back to sleep can be a time of inspiration and creativity. In this episode he suggested that the hours before dawn are “when you are close to the Source, and that you should: get out of bed, feel the morning breeze, listen to your inner thoughts, and pray.” If I remember correctly, it was Omar Khayyam that said - “Arise, we have eternity for sleeping!”
I believe that Wayne Dyer was inspired by a poem by Sufi poet and mystic Rumi-
“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don’t go back to sleep!”
I must say that most of my writing and thinking and praying is done between 2 and 4 AM and I rarely get back to sleep after that. I find being productive is better than lying there fretting about not getting back to sleep, relying on medication or staring at the ceiling. And though I fear the consequences of this, it is a pattern that has kept me going for all of my years. I seem to be OK throughout the day aside for some chronic bouts of yawning and a ten-minute nap now and then.
When you think about it if we sleep 8 hours a night and live until we’re 90 – we would have slept away 30 years of our lives- staggering right? I do know that sleep seems to be a favorite past time for many, especially this time of year when dark comes early and climbing into your pajamas by 6 seems reasonable. Sleeping is some form of living- though quiet and seemingly unproductive- it does renew and refresh the mind, body and spirit.
I do envy friends and family members who are able to drift off peacefully and wake up eight hours later refreshed. I can imagine their health benefits and the energy they bring to each new day. I don’t encourage sleeplessness but I have come to accept and realize that it is just a part of who I am. I guess it is something I will just have to keep working towards. Until then I’ll be up singing with the crickets and the stars will be calling my name.