Finding Shelter in Sleep

My favorite part of learning is when it's something I can relate to or see in my everyday life. It's a whole different experience to be able to see your thought process unfold in front of you, and see the many "why's?" being answered. In my AP Psychology class, we just took a test today to wrap up the sleep/consciousness unit. I have loved seeing how we fall asleep and how people with certain conditions (ex. insomnia, narcolepsy) have differing sleeping patterns. I've seen the many effects of sleep deprivation, and thought "wow! How relatable!" although I would prefer to not be sleep deprived. I've also learned why ideal naps are only 20 minutes, and why I shouldn't be going home and napping for more than that everyday.

One of the reasons we sleep is for protection because our ancestors used to be able to gain this feeling of being safe from predators through sleeping. Although sleeping is important for our brains and overall bodily function, I've realized that we often use it as an escape. I've found myself not wanting to confront problems in the past so I've simply said "I'll just sleep it off"! Pushing it onto the next day, however, just either forces me to forget about it or put it on the back burner. Due to the recent events that have happened at Oxford, I've realized the habit that I sometimes have to "sleep on things", but really that's just code for "try to forget about it and choose another time to get anxious". Being able to be in the dark and have your mind stop flooding with the day's thoughts and worries temporarily is an extremely comforting feeling. Instead of running away from the problem before allowing the problem to run away from me, I have realized that it's okay to put my time towards confronting the issue and unfolding it. It's okay to spend time pondering about the "why's"? My thinking doesn't always have to be progressing, it's just nice to take a step back sometimes and fully acknowledge what is happening around me.