Full Circle
A few weeks ago I woke up and checked the time: 4:55. Nice, I thought. I’ll go back to sleep and get going in a few hours.
It was dark out.
I checked e-mail and messages. My girlfriend had messaged, saying she was heading out to the organic store and to do laundry and so forth.
That’s odd, I thought. She doesn’t get up at 5 in the morning.
Aha, that’s when I realized I’d opened my eyes at 4:55 P.M. In bed by 2:30 a.m. I had slept through the entire day, conquering over 14 hours of completely uninterrupted sleep.
I guess I needed the rest. The holiday season had been stressful all around.
Today I came full circle. Since last week I can barely stay asleep, and my bleary-eyed days are to show for it. I checked the wakeup time today. 7:45. Recalling the 4:55 p.m. vs. a.m. incident I double checked to make sure it was not 7:45 at night, and that I’d done it again, snoring through a full day. Even when I confirmed it was in the a.m. I had to make sure it was actually Tuesday, and that I had not slept from Monday clear through to Wednesday.
All good, it turns out. Just another episode of seasonal adjustment wreaking havoc on any sense of circadian normalcy. It commonly happens as winter comes through, as I’m sure is true for many people, but it’s also been a follow-up to generally stressful episodes.
After coming home from summer camp I hit the mattress and stayed there for what my mother said was 15 hours. She couldn’t believe it. My father, when I visited him in Daytona Beach during high school and college, expressed similar disbelief at how freakin’ long I slept some nights.
