How Did You Sleep Last Night

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How Did You Sleep Last Night?

There is so much in night’s sleepless musings that come to me, words and phrases that say so much about my life, the shiftless and incoherent wanderlust, the ever restless being of my nature, the endless search for a gauzy part of my worth… Why is it I’m here in this space and time? For what purpose is it that I live on when I have sailed to the joy ports and those of despair and desperation with a map of iniquitous purpose? Why is it, as an author friend once wrote that ‘it is dark to die for I still wish to be’?

Now, of course, I can and will associate all my night’s restless musings to a childhood ill spent in bitter family acrimony, constant mobility, discontent, displacement, and a world of uncertainty. But that is truth for so many of us doing these multiple rotations around the sun, so I’m far from being alone… Perhaps there’s a club somewhere on the planet that I need to join. Just one disclaimer! I’m a reasonably happy man most of the time, but I do spend a bit too much time contemplating my past. Then, which author was it who said, ‘We analyze the past to prepare the future.’ That’s a paraphrase, not a direct quote – but the author will likely never know I wrote it.

So, thoughts pile upon thoughts, and I lie there with eyes closed, a frown or smile appears for no one to see and my impulse is to rise, to capture these mind pulses which are strung together so uniquely my own.  These divergent transmissions will be lost if they are not captured on paper or a laptop screen. They are my creations and they might well be important for some foolish nomads along the way. Ah, but in the rising I might awaken my wife or the cat that seeks any excuse to anger me with his constant meowing. The wife, of course, I love! The cat, well, it is a love/hate relationship – mostly love, in fairness, I must write.

Finally a vague hint of sleepiness hits me, and I decide to put away the thoughts of literary gems and listen to the impertinent wishes of my body and temporarily forget the excuses previously set forth.

Sleep comes, with weird surreal dreams, to be followed by another day of writing – that is, when I can get to it after hours of social networking chores and maintenance. I shall try to retrieve some of the ‘gems’ from night’s sleepless hours, but, mostly, to no avail.

From all of this, what can my blog friends discover? Those of you who say loudly to yourselves, ‘Absolutely nothing,’ then shame on you! The message in this post is most clear. The message is … Well, have a cup of coffee and really think about it. Maybe the caffeine will jolt your thought processes and ‘Eureka’ will come.

I’ve had five cups of coffee and I’m still working on it!

I’m off to the treadmill…

My books require no caffeine. There’s action, crime, mystery, romance, and memoir. If you would like to read some of my full-length novels, I invite you to view the following sites:

http://www.goo.gl/fuxUA (My bio and a preview of my eleven books)

http://billyraychitwood.weebly.com (My main website, with my books, reviews, blog)

http://www.about.me/brchitwood (A short bio – with links)

goo.gl/QlGf26 (amazon.com) and goo.gl/WWV24W (amazon.co.uk)

Please comment below – after the award images. Thank you.

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18 thoughts on “How Did You Sleep Last Night”

  1. I wish I could sleep ten hours a day, like I did in high school. My sleep comes in broken pieces…two hours, wake up, one hour, wake up. I can’t get into a groove of sleeping through the night. Perhaps it’s the caffeine consumed during the day…
    Five cups of coffee, you should be good to go on that treadmill, Billy!

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  2. Just dramatic effect with the coffee and treadmill. Only drink coffee occasionally, and the treadmill is not working – waiting for the repair man. No caffeine needed when I hear from you… My thanks to you always for responding to my humble posts. Have a great weekend.

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  3. Such a shame you decided to vote with those tea dunking rebels Billy and live over the water. We could have insulted each other over a game of cards in the wee hours or discussed a new set of characters for a breakthrough book to rival Discworld.
    Have a Great Weekend.

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      1. I think it’s working physically hard on the house all day (sanding and painting, etc) and then I’m exhausted at night and sleep like a baby! 😉

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  5. Sleep? I worked a graveyard shift last night from 11pm through until 7am this morning!
    I usually find, like yourself – good workout on the treadmill or an aerobics class like Pump helps.

    I am not a drinker of tea or coffee, so I reckon that probably helps a bit too.. lol

    ML
    x

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    1. I fibbed about the five cups of coffee. It’s chamomille tea for me in the mornings (1 cup). The treadmill is awaiting a repair man – motor not working (just got the machine!). Oh, well, such is life! 🙂

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  6. I’ve given up on “normal” sleep – I just get up and never mind that it’s midnight. 😀 Have you got a notepad and pen next to your bed Billy Ray? Then you could stay warm and still not forget.

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    1. I’ve tried the notepad and pen – just wake up the wife… I do need to write a post about those surreal dreams – if I could only remember them.

      Thanks for the good thought, and my best to you.

      Billy Ray

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  7. My sleep became disrupted in 1999 when my son was born with colic, concurrent with me turning forty. There seemed to be some sort of “kindling effect,” in that even after my son calmed down and I adjusted to my new decade, my sleep continued to be different (i.e., sleep latency, waking up fully in the middle of the night, waking too early—the usual for us sleep sufferers). By fifty I gave in and began taking over-the-counter sleep aids routinely, and prescription sleep aids when necessary. That said, it’s those hours when I’m awake late at night that I’m my most vulnerable and neurotic. It feels like suffering, however, it’s also those times I get ideas to pursue (e.g., “Wannabe Distance God”) or issues to check upon (e.g., rewrite something so that it’s less acerbic). If poorer sleep is a symptom of a troubled conscience, maybe that’s a good thing, you know, at least we care. On the other hand, it’s usually just neuroticism and another sucky thing about aging. Peace out, Billy Ray!

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    1. Thanks, good friend. Your comments always help! I, too, occasionally take a prescription aid to sleep… I lied about the five cups of coffee, and, the treadmill, it’s not working – got a repair man coming to fix it… The best to you, Renni, and Gentry.

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  8. After years of shift work I can sleep anywhere anytime, it’s a gift. I like that period in between aware and asleep, its a time for reflection on the day. I find then that if anyone in spirit is hanging around this is the time they want to chat. As I fade away then the subconscious slowly opens and the past pops up to be analysed. The next thing the bladder has a hissy fit and I wander to the loo. I usually have deep sleeps, other times I wake up standing in the shower. One night I apparently wandered into the lounge room, took my wedding ring off, placed it in a cabinet and went back to bed. Crazy. Talking to the departed is far easier. 🙂

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