The Dubious Wisdom of Sally Brown
When I was four or five years old, I got a set of bed sheets featuring characters from the Peanuts cartoons: Charlie Brown, his sister Sally, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Snoopy. The characters were talking (using speech bubbles), and I read their words over and over again. The only phrase I can remember was Sally Brown's. She said: "I hate to go to bed at night and I hate to get up in the morning."
Exactly, I thought. Sure, I was only five years old, but here was a philosophy I could live by. My parents believed in something called "bedtime," after which I was supposed to lie in the dark while activity continued elsewhere in the house. I wanted no such thing, and didn't like being told what to do. To me, the freedom not to go to sleep appeared to be the essential privilege of adulthood. Getting up in the morning, on the other hand . . . well, the adults could have it; I wanted no part. Maybe I was born on a planet with a 27-hour day.
In college and graduate school I came to think of myself as naturally nocturnal. In a world shackled to the antiquated tradition of getting stuff done during the day, I preferred to start focusing sometime after lunch, and would have been happy to hang out with friends until the wee hours every night. Who could sleep anyway, what with the anxiety produced by deadlines and exams? So too often, I let my inner Sally Brown make my choices. I got my academic work done, but it took a lot longer than it should have, since I was almost always fighting exhaustion. I felt weak, unhealthy and often deeply unhappy. That childhood association of late nights with freedom was making me less free, because its consequence was that I was spending my waking hours carrying the burden of unnecessary fatigue.
The amazing thing is that despite my personal education in the consequences of sleep deprivation, I've never completely dispelled my Sally Brown tendencies. It's so easy give in to the delusion that a choice to delay sleep now is not going to cost me later. I always want to watch a little more TV, check my email one more time, or give one more glance at my Facebook news feed.
But several decades in thrall to a cartoonish sleep philosophy is enough. I already had "go to bed at the same reasonable time every night" on my list of upcoming New Year's resolutions, but I'm going to get an early start. UMBC is celebrating its first Sleep Awareness Day this Wednesday, November 30th. Perfect! I'll do my part by going to sleep by 11:00 p.m. and getting at least 8 hours, and then sticking to it night after night. How about you?
--
Exactly, I thought. Sure, I was only five years old, but here was a philosophy I could live by. My parents believed in something called "bedtime," after which I was supposed to lie in the dark while activity continued elsewhere in the house. I wanted no such thing, and didn't like being told what to do. To me, the freedom not to go to sleep appeared to be the essential privilege of adulthood. Getting up in the morning, on the other hand . . . well, the adults could have it; I wanted no part. Maybe I was born on a planet with a 27-hour day.
In college and graduate school I came to think of myself as naturally nocturnal. In a world shackled to the antiquated tradition of getting stuff done during the day, I preferred to start focusing sometime after lunch, and would have been happy to hang out with friends until the wee hours every night. Who could sleep anyway, what with the anxiety produced by deadlines and exams? So too often, I let my inner Sally Brown make my choices. I got my academic work done, but it took a lot longer than it should have, since I was almost always fighting exhaustion. I felt weak, unhealthy and often deeply unhappy. That childhood association of late nights with freedom was making me less free, because its consequence was that I was spending my waking hours carrying the burden of unnecessary fatigue.
The amazing thing is that despite my personal education in the consequences of sleep deprivation, I've never completely dispelled my Sally Brown tendencies. It's so easy give in to the delusion that a choice to delay sleep now is not going to cost me later. I always want to watch a little more TV, check my email one more time, or give one more glance at my Facebook news feed.
But several decades in thrall to a cartoonish sleep philosophy is enough. I already had "go to bed at the same reasonable time every night" on my list of upcoming New Year's resolutions, but I'm going to get an early start. UMBC is celebrating its first Sleep Awareness Day this Wednesday, November 30th. Perfect! I'll do my part by going to sleep by 11:00 p.m. and getting at least 8 hours, and then sticking to it night after night. How about you?
--
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Posted: November 27, 2011, 6:26 PM