Scientists still haven't concretely agreed upon why we dream at night. Some argue it's a decompression of the days' events - although I don't remember driving an underwater school bus to a Greek island yesterday. Others maintain they are representations of our desires, and more think it is an organizational downloading process of information gained. Either way, sometimes it's just plain too much activity. Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling utterly exhausted from your dreams-as if you've run a marathon at record speed only without the benefit to your waistline?
It seems that for one reason or another I never fall asleep and wake up on my own accord. I think this, and this almost exclusively, is the reason for my continued sleepiness. I am a night owl through and through. Left to my own devices, I would go to sleep between 2 and 3 each morning and wake up for 9:30 or 10:00. Unfortunately, unless you happen to be the Energizer bunny, your average working lifestyle is not too accommodating to this sleep cycle. I therefore force myself to fall asleep by midnight at the latest and am brutally awoken by the sound of my faux-cricket alarm sometime around 7:30am.
I've thought about this often and am glad to be sharing it finally. Here's my dream; well, one of them: I want to (with my own bed and pillows and comforter) participate in a sleep study that allows me to fall asleep in a 100% sound-proof chamber with black out curtains. I want to watch movies and chat on the phone, eat food and sing and dance around till I drift off on my own accord and I want to sleep and sleep and sleep until I wake up nice and refreshed. I want for there to be a cool breeze continuously blowing so crawling under the covers is more appealing and so I don't overheat in the night. I don't want any clocks or faintly glowing lights in the room and because the study could go sour quickly without one, I would request a toilet in the chamber as well. I wonder how long I would sleep in these conditions? 10 hours? 12? A whole day? Who knows, but to find out would be amazing.
Why all this sleep talk you ask? That would be because as I sit here after working a 100 hour week, the thought of sleep is sweeter than [insert personal favorite dessert. multiply times 300 and take it to the 5th degree of maple syrup].
I will therefore leave you with this recommendation: Nap. Nap frequently and nap willingly. Take them when you can get them.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
I Could Do That
You know that feeling you get deep inside while while you're watching the Olympics in your big armchair with a bowl of chips and a soda? It's that feeling like, "I can do this. I can totally get up on that mountain or out on that ice and give those athletes a run for their money". Well I had such a feeling while watching the women's hockey game. Team Canada was kiling team Switzerland and I though to myself "hmm, I've got balance, I'm tough, I can probably hold my own out there". Then, to solidify this feeling of athletic inclination I watched an ameture hockey game at a local rink. I watched two teams of 15 year old girls out there skating and stopping and taking slap shots at the goal. Well. Pshhh, if they can do it, I certainly can do it. I'm athletic. I grew up playing sports. Let's do it.
Cut to monday afternoon and me sitting on a picinic bench lacing up my borrowed skates loop by loop all the while visions of glory flowed through my imagination. Imagination. What a powerful tool. Now although I didn't fall whilst skating (and I'll have you know that I was skating on a lumpy lake as opposed to a freshly Zamboni'd rink) and I was able to take shots at the puck, and I could almost come to a complete stop when necessary, reality fell far short of the DVD highlights reel I created in my head. To make the puck leave the ice takes mad skill - skill I was not able to adequately develop in an hour. To stop and change direction on a dime is something I will have grasped after my next two or three sessions, but for now I'm going to let the practice-makes-perfect, apple-sized bruises on my hips have their time to heal. I loved it though! If I grew up in the land where kids practically pop out of the womb with skates on, I think I'd be all about it. Alas however, I grew up in the land of eternal sunshine where there is one rink per 30,000 residents which is only open 5 days a week during hours only 5 year olds are free. In another life...
As I began to realize that qualifying for the women's 2014 hockey team may be just out of my reach I couldn't help but feel like I was giving up. I'm not the sort of person who just gives up that easily so I went back to the drawing board. I plopped myself down on a bank of snow and fired up the ol' dream creator. Figure skater? Nah, I'm not dainty enough. Skier? Hmm, interesting but I'm not sure I'll have constant access to an Olympic quality mountain for training. Louge? Bobsleigh? Skeleton? All interesting but again, where am I going to find an empty track just laying around that I'll be able to use at my will? Again, I come back to rink sports. EUREKA! Speed skating! Duuu. How did it take me so long to get to this point. The gear is minimal therefore affordable; the training space is simple and plentiful therefore attainable; the rules are simple therefore easy to learn; and I already know I'm a great skater from my three hours on the lake this weekend. Done. Come February 2014, if you want to find me, I'll be in Sochi, Russia warming up!
Cut to monday afternoon and me sitting on a picinic bench lacing up my borrowed skates loop by loop all the while visions of glory flowed through my imagination. Imagination. What a powerful tool. Now although I didn't fall whilst skating (and I'll have you know that I was skating on a lumpy lake as opposed to a freshly Zamboni'd rink) and I was able to take shots at the puck, and I could almost come to a complete stop when necessary, reality fell far short of the DVD highlights reel I created in my head. To make the puck leave the ice takes mad skill - skill I was not able to adequately develop in an hour. To stop and change direction on a dime is something I will have grasped after my next two or three sessions, but for now I'm going to let the practice-makes-perfect, apple-sized bruises on my hips have their time to heal. I loved it though! If I grew up in the land where kids practically pop out of the womb with skates on, I think I'd be all about it. Alas however, I grew up in the land of eternal sunshine where there is one rink per 30,000 residents which is only open 5 days a week during hours only 5 year olds are free. In another life...
As I began to realize that qualifying for the women's 2014 hockey team may be just out of my reach I couldn't help but feel like I was giving up. I'm not the sort of person who just gives up that easily so I went back to the drawing board. I plopped myself down on a bank of snow and fired up the ol' dream creator. Figure skater? Nah, I'm not dainty enough. Skier? Hmm, interesting but I'm not sure I'll have constant access to an Olympic quality mountain for training. Louge? Bobsleigh? Skeleton? All interesting but again, where am I going to find an empty track just laying around that I'll be able to use at my will? Again, I come back to rink sports. EUREKA! Speed skating! Duuu. How did it take me so long to get to this point. The gear is minimal therefore affordable; the training space is simple and plentiful therefore attainable; the rules are simple therefore easy to learn; and I already know I'm a great skater from my three hours on the lake this weekend. Done. Come February 2014, if you want to find me, I'll be in Sochi, Russia warming up!
Friday, February 12, 2010
I'm Like a Bird? I Wanna Fly Away?
Why, when determining the life-type I most desire, do the terms relate to birds? Am I a nester or do I float like a feather? Here's the sitch: I am a minimalist. I'm totally cool with an old beater of a car if it gets me from A to B with no headaches. I'm fine wearing three different outfits for five months. I love laying directly in the sand at the beach. I'm cool with eating the same meal every night if it's cheap and tastes decent. I'm down for staying in with friends versus going to a fancy bar or club. I like moving around and living in new cities. I am not a minimalist. My favorite car is the BMW M3. I could lose a whole day in a mall. I like having a big plush towel and magazines and cold water at the beach. I like appetizers, entrees, and desserts (especially when not cooked by me). I love swanky modern bars with mood-influencing music and lighting.
So you see, I have a dilemma. Do I settle and get a good paying job that will allow me to acquire the latter half of my list or do I hold out and float like a feather on the wind through life taking what's available and adapting to new situations regularly? I truly am equally happy in both situations. It's only when I'm fully immersed in one that I even think of the other. Is this a case of the 'the grass is always greener' or 'you always want what you can't have'? Is it normal to feel this way? I just don't know.
I think that if I truly had to commit to one lifestyle or the other, I would hands down pick the feather on the wind. I think it lends itself to much happier overall life. If you get too accustomed to a life surrounded by stuff, there will always be more stuff that is bigger and better than the stuff you already have. If you live a more minimalist lifestyle, you can be pleasantly surprised by the little things - like a towel at the beach or a nice dinner out.
How is is that one brain can be so content living in two worlds? Basically what I want is to feel perfectly at ease in all situations life throws at me. If I'm with a bunch of yuppies out to lunch I'd like to look the part (although I'm sure I'd be bored out my mind). If I'm hiking or doing something outdoorsy, I'd like to make sure I have the right gear so I can have an awesome time and soak up nature. The last thing I'd ever want however, is to be a poser - the yuppie who spends $100 on a purse that says go green, or the granola cruncher who hops in his spotlessly clean range rover to drive 2 miles to the mountain.
So far all I've talked about is lots of stuff versus a little stuff but there's one more aspect that lingers strong. Friends. With the move-about lifestyle you're constantly saying goodbye to old friends and making new ones. This is awesome in so many ways because you have the ability to feel at home in so many places and the world becomes so much smaller. However, if you happen to have made some pretty awesome friends before this feather-lifestyle took flight, it can be hard to be away from them. Inside jokes are suddenly outside jokes because you can't share them with anyone. Subtle personality nuances suddenly need to be explained as they are lost in translation. Again, it's the little things.
I guess it all boils down to belonging. Nobody wants to feel like they're on the outside looking in. How do you find that balance of exploring the world and meeting new people and learning new things but maintaining a home base where you can experience total comfort and feel at ease. I suppose the simple answer is family. Family is a permanent home base - literally. I suppose for the feather-on-the-wind personality the saying 'you can't go home again' is irrelevant.
With a strong family support system, awesome friends in more than one location, and a great job in a third location, it looks like I'm setting up nicely for that wandering minimalist option. I'm down for that.
So you see, I have a dilemma. Do I settle and get a good paying job that will allow me to acquire the latter half of my list or do I hold out and float like a feather on the wind through life taking what's available and adapting to new situations regularly? I truly am equally happy in both situations. It's only when I'm fully immersed in one that I even think of the other. Is this a case of the 'the grass is always greener' or 'you always want what you can't have'? Is it normal to feel this way? I just don't know.
I think that if I truly had to commit to one lifestyle or the other, I would hands down pick the feather on the wind. I think it lends itself to much happier overall life. If you get too accustomed to a life surrounded by stuff, there will always be more stuff that is bigger and better than the stuff you already have. If you live a more minimalist lifestyle, you can be pleasantly surprised by the little things - like a towel at the beach or a nice dinner out.
How is is that one brain can be so content living in two worlds? Basically what I want is to feel perfectly at ease in all situations life throws at me. If I'm with a bunch of yuppies out to lunch I'd like to look the part (although I'm sure I'd be bored out my mind). If I'm hiking or doing something outdoorsy, I'd like to make sure I have the right gear so I can have an awesome time and soak up nature. The last thing I'd ever want however, is to be a poser - the yuppie who spends $100 on a purse that says go green, or the granola cruncher who hops in his spotlessly clean range rover to drive 2 miles to the mountain.
So far all I've talked about is lots of stuff versus a little stuff but there's one more aspect that lingers strong. Friends. With the move-about lifestyle you're constantly saying goodbye to old friends and making new ones. This is awesome in so many ways because you have the ability to feel at home in so many places and the world becomes so much smaller. However, if you happen to have made some pretty awesome friends before this feather-lifestyle took flight, it can be hard to be away from them. Inside jokes are suddenly outside jokes because you can't share them with anyone. Subtle personality nuances suddenly need to be explained as they are lost in translation. Again, it's the little things.
I guess it all boils down to belonging. Nobody wants to feel like they're on the outside looking in. How do you find that balance of exploring the world and meeting new people and learning new things but maintaining a home base where you can experience total comfort and feel at ease. I suppose the simple answer is family. Family is a permanent home base - literally. I suppose for the feather-on-the-wind personality the saying 'you can't go home again' is irrelevant.
With a strong family support system, awesome friends in more than one location, and a great job in a third location, it looks like I'm setting up nicely for that wandering minimalist option. I'm down for that.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Tenth Wish
If I had a handful of wishes, and I say handful because to be honest, I wouldn't ask for what I am about to write about if I only had three wishes. Maybe if I had ten...yeah, ten wishes and this would be my tenth: to have a vocabulary rivaling the Oxford dictionary. The ability to speak is such an amazing characteristic of humans and I wish that I could make more use of it. I too often find myself in a pregnant pause racking my brain for the words I know are in there somewhere buried beneath pop lyrics, television commercial slogans, movie quotes and useless factoids - words I know my english teachers tried to hammer into me through tests, quizzes and good old fashioned written repetition. Words I know I've seen, heard, and at one time or another used, seem to escape me these days. Though I know it's not true, I would like say that perhaps my brain is reaching capacity and with all of its acquired intelligence it's deciding for me the things I need to remember and those that I don't. Although if I follow that logic, Hanson's Mmm Bop is decidedly more important than say the non-elementary level synonyms of the word 'big' or the true definition of 'peruse' versus the common usage. FYI, peruse means to read through carefully and entirely, NOT to give a quick glance.
Maybe it's because by owning a computer and an iPhone I'm guaranteed to have the answer to any and every question in the world with me at almost all times of the day. If I can't recall Abraham Lincoln's vice president, I can just hop onto Google and tell you in three to seven seconds that it was Hannibal Hamlin from 1861-1865 and Andrew Johnson in 1865 (yes, I did just Google that). Heck, current events and history aside, I don't even have to remember that it's my brothers or mothers or best friend's birthday because I can just set an alarm to remind me...and I can set that alarm to remind me in time to buy a gift, in time to ship the gift, and in time to call them at a certain hour on their special day and tell them how much they mean to me.
Our brains are clearly a use it or lose it situation and I fear that unless I take immediate and sustained action to use it, my 24 year old brain may be on the slippery slope to mush. Note to self: read more, write more, play more board games, do more sudoko. Ok, there, I feel better now; I've been warned and you can't say you haven't.
Maybe it's because by owning a computer and an iPhone I'm guaranteed to have the answer to any and every question in the world with me at almost all times of the day. If I can't recall Abraham Lincoln's vice president, I can just hop onto Google and tell you in three to seven seconds that it was Hannibal Hamlin from 1861-1865 and Andrew Johnson in 1865 (yes, I did just Google that). Heck, current events and history aside, I don't even have to remember that it's my brothers or mothers or best friend's birthday because I can just set an alarm to remind me...and I can set that alarm to remind me in time to buy a gift, in time to ship the gift, and in time to call them at a certain hour on their special day and tell them how much they mean to me.
Our brains are clearly a use it or lose it situation and I fear that unless I take immediate and sustained action to use it, my 24 year old brain may be on the slippery slope to mush. Note to self: read more, write more, play more board games, do more sudoko. Ok, there, I feel better now; I've been warned and you can't say you haven't.
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