I bake cookies—in my head, that is—while I try to fall asleep at night. I’ve never been a good sleeper. Even as a child, I could hear a pin drop when I was sleeping. And the princess and the pea—well, that is me as I fidget in bed trying to get comfortable. Now I seem to rarely have a full night of sleeping. I know that having my cat Anubis sleep on me is a mixed blessing (he is so warm and snuggly, but he is nearly 10 pounds of furriness sitting on my stomach). So I try lots of evening rituals like doing some yoga poses and breathing exercises before I get into bed. I sleep on wickable sheets to stay comfortable regardless of temperature changes. I keep my eyes covered with a sleep mask every night to block out light and other energies around me. I have tried earplugs and they do help to keep out sound but they aren’t very comfortable—yeah that princess and the pea phenomenon again.
Instead, I think of measuring brown sugar, white sugar and butter then creaming it together (yum, especially the brown sugar). I add the eggs and vanilla and even taste the batter along the way just like I do when I am actually making cookies. And of course the recipe I seem to make most often is chocolate chip cookies (see Ode to baking chocolate chip cookies).
I even write entire blog posts like this one not on paper but in my head. Initially I am too tired or afraid that turning on a light to write it down will wake me too fully that I try really hard to not forget it by morning. One night recently it was no problem—I was so awake all through the night or just determined to remember that in the morning when I got up, all my thoughts just poured out long hand on paper. I couldn’t wait the time it would have taken to turn on my computer. And some how it seemed too early, too strange to turn on my computer. But I don’t always remember what I “wrote” in bed. Sometimes it will be days and then I finally remember a topic I thought of to write about while I was “asleep”.
I also sing songs all night. That happens pretty much regardless of where I am in the dream-sleep continuum. I can get really annoyed by a song if it keeps playing over and over again when I am awake-ish. If I am actually asleep, the song simply becomes the soundtrack to whatever is taking place in my dream. It doesn’t necessarily change the dream, it’s just there in the background like in a movie.
It turns out that my uncle has some similar experiences. We probably share some unusual gene. I can’t say that I am sorry that I have that gene. Other than being such a poor sleeper, I do appreciate that my way to create is so interesting and I get fun things to blog out of it!
Love Beauty Peace 