Sleep
Current location: Milwaukee, WI, USA
Reading: The Economic Weapon by Nicholas Mulder
Listening: So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings by Squirrel Flower
(if you have a moment, reply with your own 3-item status)
Sleep
For a long time, I sucked at sleep.
But a handful of years ago I started to wonder if I might be capable of learning to sleep better: I started thinking it might be a skill I could work on, rather than an external variable over which I lacked any power.
There are still nights, every once in a while, when my internal processes are in flux and no matter how mightily I struggle I can't make it work; I'm a zombie the next day and it sucks.
Much of the time, though, I feel pretty confident I'll get around eight hours of shut-eye each night and that those hours will be productive in the sense that I wake feeling rested and regenerated rather than sluggish or drained.
Reaching this (still imperfect, but way better than before and still-improving) point has taken a lot of time and effort. It's also required semi-regular recalibrations and experimentation; everyone's different, and those differences extend to how we optimally prepare for and undertake the process of putting ourselves to sleep.
In general, though, it helps to turn down lights, set aside screens, turn down the thermostat, and engage in calming, winding-down activities in the hour or so leading up to your planned bedtime.
I personally find (and there's some research to back this up) that reading fiction in bed (on a non-backlit Kindle screen, but a soft reading light and tangible book works, too) puts me in the right state of mind for a restful segue into drowsiness. I also find that reading a bit of poetry before heading to bed amplifies that effect (this is a relatively new habit, but it's been really enjoyable so far).
Blackout curtains are magical, and if you can avoid working where you sleep and either remove or cover all sources of light in your bedroom, you'll tend to have better slumber-outcomes (there's research for that latter point, as well).
A little meditation (or pseudo-meditation, like calmly sitting and thinking without distraction for five or ten minutes) can help too, I find. It's useful to untangle our minds and bring worries and concerns to the forefront so they can be addressed before getting into bed (which in turn helps ameliorate those "can't conk out because my mind won't shut up" sorts of sleeplessness).
It can also be beneficial to stop eating and drinking (anything but water) by 8pm. Your timing on this will vary, but the idea is to stop consuming stuff an hour or two before you begin segueing toward sleep so your stomach's activities don't keep the rest of your body from fully shutting down.
None of this is revelatory—and again, I'm still working on this myself after years of not thinking anything sleep-related was within my power to tweak—but getting consistent, quality sleep (and knowing I can get it) has been such a value-add to my life that I like to periodically bring it up in the hope that these little tip tidbits might help spark positive change (and sleep-empowerment) for someone else, as well.
Sleep is a skill like any other. That means you can get better at it, train yourself, train your body and mind to do it more proficiently.
It takes time and effort and experimentation, but in my experience at least it's an investment worth making.
If you found some value in this essay, consider supporting my work by buying me a coffee :)
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Projects
Select, recent works from across my project portfolio.
Aspiring Generalist: Desirable Difficulties
Brain Lenses: Retrieval
I Will Read To You: Darkness
Let’s Know Things: Staple Foods
Curiosity Weekly / Daily: March 22 / March 21
One Sentence News: March 23 (podcast version)
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Interesting & Useful
The most beautiful photographs of Earth—iconic images and unknown gems—digitally restored to their full glory.
Museum of Plugs and Sockets World map with links to photos and detailed descriptions of various types of domestic plugs and sockets.
NASA Captures Groundbreaking Images of Venus' Surface
The NASA Parker Solar Probe released new images of the surface of the planet Venus taken in visible light from space—a first for space science.
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Outro
I've been getting out and about a bit this past week, trying to make the most of this period of relative calm between "before" and "what's yet to come."
To quote Sarah Lazarus on Twitter, "what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious month between covid waves"?
For me, the answer is attempting to build a social life from essentially scratch, meeting some new people and doing some relatively safe things out in public, and making sure I'm in a good position to enjoy life whatever happens next.
On the homefront, I've been having fun with the little tarot-centered daily writing exercises I've been doing: you can use this guide to integrate the same into your day, if you're keen to (let me know how it goes if you do!).
I'm also planning to hit up the hardware store for art-hanging supplies this weekend, so I can finally get all this art up at eye-level rather than leaning against my walls on the floor.
Simple ambitions that will hopefully pay substantial dividends!
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Any plans for this one wild and precious month (though hopefully it's much longer than that)? How're you feeling at the moment? What're you excited about? Dreading anything?
Tell me what's up and/or just say hello by replying to this newsletter or writing to colin@exilelifestyle.com. I respond to every email I receive and would love to hear from you :)
You can also communicate via the usual methods: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or extensive solarpunk canon.
If you’re finding some value in what I’m doing here, consider supporting my work: Become an Understandary member / Buy me a coffee