Tuesday, March 13, 2007

To sleep, perchance to dream....

When I sleep, I dream. Vivid, sometimes crazy dreams that I can remember clearly, sometimes for years afterwards (like the one where I was going on a date with Vince Gill and we went ice skating and he had a pet monkey....). I even dream when I nap. I have recurring dreams and random dreams. Perhaps I shall post my dreams on this blog sometimes, both for your amusement and so maybe you psychotherapist-type readers can help me figure out what they mean!!!

But that's for another day.

There are some nights, like last night, when I don't sleep. I don't know why. Sometimes I don't sleep at all - just lightly doze here and there for 5-10 minutes at a time, then lie awake the rest of the time. Some nights I lie awake for hours, songs and thoughts whirling in my head, playing like a movie on the back of my eyelids, until I finally fall asleep just in time to be good and asleep when it's time to get up. Because I haven't done a good list here in a while, I figured this would be a good one -

Ten Things I Think About When I Can't Sleep

1. Things I need to do the next day
2. My next vacation
3. How I will arrange my furniture and things in the new house I want
4. Impacted ear wax (I think I have that right now and I'm somewhat concerned)
5. Whether the people I interact with on a regular basis really like me or are just pretending to
6. What I would do with the money if I won the lottery
7. What I would name another child if I were to miraculously have one
8. Hurtful things that have happened in the past, and why some of them I can let go of and others still kinda piss me off
9. Things to blog about
10. What time I have to get up and how little sleep I am getting.

Of course, there are a million other things that go thru my mind on nights like these, and they are always set to music. I'll get songs in my head that I have no idea how they got in there. I'm weird that way.

So what do you do when you can't sleep? Besides READ, which everyone tells me to do. Sometimes that works for me, sometimes it doesn't. What stuff do you think about?

8 comments:

wendy bird said...

I do laundry. I hate it, but it makes me tired. Maybe subconciously I am putting things in order...with the folding and all.

I also think about a project. Like right now I am thinking about ripping up my flower beds. What types of plants do I want...where would I put them...somehow I fall asleep.

Bubba's Mom said...

I think you either need serious therapy or some kind of pill - or maybe both. Pills do it for me.

cjm said...

I'm going with bubba's mom. I sometimes have nights like that but they mostly come when I have a lot of responsibility the next day. Like on Sunday when I kept checking to make sure the alarm had been reset to reflect the time change and that I had packed everything I'd need for work and blah blah blah... Super glad I didn't sleep what with needing to get up at 4am. I usually read so I'm no help. But if you find that you're thinking of things that you hope you remember in the morning, it's good to write them down. I keep paper in my nightstand for that reason.

Katie Lady said...

I take one Benedryl. Works great, and helps me breathe better.

I can't fall asleep reading, I'll finish the whole damn book first.

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

Me too, Katie Lady! Which is why reading doesn't usually help me. I think I'll try the Benedryl suggestion....

Eddie said...

I think about #3 and #5. And I also replay conversations that I've had throughout the day and agonize about whether my words may have been taken the wrong way.

(I also read. Sorry I don't have better advice for you! lol)

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

I do that, too, Eddie - replay conversations. I always come up with better things I could have said....

Kitten said...

Lying there TRYING to go to sleep ain't gonna do it. You need to just get up and do something as little as walking around and tidying up ~ just something to rearrange your mind and hopefully you will be able to get back in bed and peacefully drift off to sleep. My husband swears by Tylenol PM and they also make one called "Just Sleep" or something like that ~ it doesn't have the pain reliever in it...just the sleepy part.