Talk of Circadian Rhythms

Dear Internets,

Whenever I don't have to get up for work (or, in the past, school) for more than three days, I start becoming nocturnal*. I've been this way my entire life, to the frustration of my parents, older sister, several roommates, and probably even my dog.

It always seemed kind of strange to me that my off-kilter sleep schedule upset everyone so much - I was careful not to wake or keep anyone else up, as much to preserve my solitude as their slumber. Still, it made them uncomfortable. They just didn't understand why I wouldn't just go to sleep at a decent hour like a normal person.

I love being awake late at night, though. In college, I used to take my dog on long walks after dark when I didn't have morning classes the next day.** I loved the way the streetlights separated the darkness into neat paragraphs, and that I could actually hear my thoughts click against the pavement with Bailey's footsteps.

Daylight overwhelms me sometimes, with its million sounds and people and things and ideas refracting in a million different directions. The night is well-edited.

Get some rest, Internets.

Love,
Jane

*[This phenomenon is kind of bizarre, because when I'm on a "regular person" schedule (8 to 5, M-F, or something similar) I fall asleep at my normal bedtime (whatever it happens to be) like I'm punching a time clock. Some friends once dragged me to a rather scary club on a trip to Houston, and I apparently slept through a loud fight with my head on my friend Lyn's shoulder.]

**Then I watched too many episodes of Cold Case Files and realized that it wasn't an entirely safe habit.