Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Secret Life of Sleep






































Just finished Kat Duff's The Secret Life of Sleep (Atria Books, Beyond Words, 2014). I will read it again. Lots of interesting things to ponder regarding sleep, dreams, waking, nodding off and everything in between.

This mysterious phenomenon called sleep "colors our perceptions, regulates our moods, alters our interactions, and determines our health to such an extent that we barely know ourselves apart from its influence. Sleep lifts and carries our days like water holding lily pads afloat. . ." (page 204).

Cool book that looks around the world, combing through time. It muses about various altered states of consciousness from many different perspectives. An inherently fascinating subject and approach. 

Makes me think of the evolution of my sleep preferences. Ideally, I would stay up late and then, after some perfectly calibrated cycle of deep dreamless sleep followed by cycles of REM dream states, I would get up naturally, no alarm clocks. Sleep with style: cotton linens, multiple thin pillows. Fan whirling to cover random night noises. At a stretch, seven to nine hours of sleep would be nice. But of course: preferences are one thing, realities another. 

How about you?

Today's Rune: The Self.

1 comment:

jodi said...

Erik-I love my sleep. Good sheets, a down comforter and pillow and a soft fan. 8 or nine hours works, but I love an afternoon nap, too!