August 19, 2006
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Greetings to one and all!
Is it not odd how humans fall asleep? When we lay down to go to sleep, we may be turning over thoughts from the day, but then, after a time we cannot estimate, the last thoughts falls and we change from awake to asleep, a transition we do not consciously realize. However, a few weeks back I gripped the impossible. Do not suppose me to kid — I caught myself falling asleep. My thoughts had become hushed whispers and my hands were on the doors to dreamland when BAM! My eyes shot open from their slow decline that resembled a garage door closing. The reaction in my mind, of course, was shock and jubilee. I felt like I had beaten the nature of sleep, that which says we may never witness the moment a human falls into slumber. In the very moment my body had attempted to cross the line into sleep, I had caught it, like pouncing on and ensnaring an elusive snake. I cocked a “Ha! Ha!” and spit it out, wishing that someone from Guiness had been there to record my feet. After ten seconds of rejoicing and analysing what had happened I laid my head back down and let sleep spitefully overtake me.It is interesting to me how an activity can temporarily affect your thinking. I will give two examples I know. First, after playing speed scrabble with a few friends of mine we walked down a street with many stores and shops. I instantaneously attempted to rearrange the letters to the first store sign I saw, searching for other words it might spell as if it were an allotment of scrabble letters. I laughed at the scrabble programming of my head and walked on, helping my brain to comprehend I was no longer playing the splendid game.
The second example I am sure many are more familiar with. Just today I had just finished reading a novel and was walking out of Starbucks when I began thinking in complete sentences, describing my actions, as if it were a descriptive passage in a book. “The boy walked out of the coffee shop, glanced at the busy traffic in the street, but soon returned his attention to his footing so as not to stumble on the way to his car…”
I bid you all adieu! I leave you with a quote from Harvey.
“You know, when I was young my mother used to say to me, ‘In this world, Elwood,’ — she would always call me Elwood, she would say, ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be O, so smart, or O, so pleasant.’ Well, for many years I was smart. I’d recommend pleasant.”
Comments (16)
hahaha the sleep thing is funny.
the brain is a crazy tool.
HEy sophie, my name is Kyungdong Kim from South Korea. We will play soon, sometimes.
lol
Are you hot? I hope you are.
lol
I would never do that. I love to sleep too much. Why fight it??
aw .. that’s my favorite part.
Sometimes you leave me comments and I like them…but I never leave you any…usually because my mind cannot comprehend the depth of your posts. But here’s one anyway.
That’s all I got.
Ha! i catch my self falling asleep often! only when listening to music tho =) it happens when you hear the music then there is silence i snap back out and realize i was almost drifting into it! anyways i used to think in complete sentences of what i was doing too ( back in forth grade tho ?)
^ Yea same there for me. When I listen to music while trying to go to sleep it keeps me focused….. on not going to sleep……hmmmmm….
i’ve sort of done that – there’s a place where you’re half asleep but you don’t realize it and still think you’re fully conscious, like, you keep thinking, but your thoughts don’t make any sense, but you don’t realize it…i’ve been jolted awake from that before, and it is strange…
ps,
i was at that first example!
cheers.
Not as crazy as you may think. Some people ”watch” themselves fall asleep and be conscious while unconscious. It’s called lucid dreaming, and the more you practice, the better you get at it.
lol hey Thanks for that. My school will start at tomorrow
your brain is obviously special … and I love how you share it with us.
My son is quite bright and we used to tell him, “It is nice to be smart, but it is more important to be nice” …. not overly eloquent, but the same point. It is interesting that as he enters puberty the “smart” thing isn’t as obvious …. a bit of a concern for a mother
if you say sleep is a “unconscious state of mind”. Then does that mean that i am always sleeping? well, i guess that wouldn’t be a lot pleasant, would it? That would make Elwood something.
well i was going to comment on your use of imagery in the first paragraph, but then once i read on, i realized i had more to say. firstly, i love your description of you catching sleep like a snake and sleep setting upon you like a garage door closing. that’s really the perfect image for falling asleep, i think. and secondly, my mind does the same thing–getting into ‘modes’ after i’ve done something. like when I see a play or something. my brain automatically wants to use the template of mood and circumstance for my thoughts. perhaps i’ve shut off all the lights and I’m walking upstairs to bed, and suddenly my staircase becomes a dangerous, smokey alley in the big city. –i don’t know, just an example i suppose. haha
that part of harvey that you mentioned. that’s my favorite line. =)
My dad does that when he’s playing Animal Crossing DS after mowing the lawn.
-Caleb : p
I adore your way of writing.
It makes me smile… and reflect.