” A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow”
[ Charlotte Brontë ]
I am not a serene sleeper.
I toss and turn, sleep talk and murmur.
I grind my teeth (I actually have a special guard prescribed by my dentist).
I wake up and get up at times and wander through the appartement.
I dream vividly and sometimes when I wake I can not fully let go of my dreams and they hang over me like a light silk veil for some time, before I am able to shake them.
Also (and this is the most important part), I am prone to horrid nightmares, that make me weep and moan in my sleep.
I guess it’s safe to say that I am not anybody’s favoured bunk-mate … .
When I was a child I tried to get rid of my nightmares by reading Steven King Novels before I went to bed.
I know this sounds strange, so let me elaborate:
Mr. King’s fiction to me was always just that – it was unreal without even the slightest chance of it ever becoming real (horrid clowns living off of people’s souls? – Oh puhleez?!?).
So I could forget myself in something that wasn’t real and thus forget fears, aches and pains that were real to me. (You’ll have to take my word for this one, it’s kind of hard to prove or even to fully explain).
Once I got older, I got addicted to night-time-TV instead of bed-time-stories ( I know, I know, it’s not a good habit – one of my many bad habits).
I could never watch the news or shows about real wars and natural catastrophes though – those, unlike Mr. Kings works of suspense and horror – were real and thus carried within them the possibility of it happening to me as well.
So I usually watched re-runs of old TV-shows like:
“Golden Girls“, “Frasier”, “Seinfeld“,”The Wonder Years“,”Roseanne”
and many more.
I loved them and that was exactly the problem: I wouldn’t fall asleep while they were on or even get tired enough to fall asleep after them.
I needed something else… .
And out of the blue a night in (errr I guess) yellow-greenish armour came to saved my nights:
(drumroll)
“Captain James T. Kirk and his loyal crew of the starship Enterprise“
I love that the acting is either non-existent or over the top.
I love that Captain Kirk is actually a rude, womanizing loud-mouth and still saves the day.
I love the absurd and weirdly comical story lines.
I adore their inconsistencies (in this one episode they beam into a building, but can’t open an old-fashioned lock with their phaser – huh?!)
It has come to the point where I will get ready for bed and slip under my covers anxiously anticipating the first couple of notes of the starship enterprise theme music.
Yes, I’ll be the first to admit it: I am a dork!
However,
this dork
has no more problems
falling a sleep at night!
The Dork is back!!!! I so know what you mean about that night time TV. It’s so soothing.
It’s brain fastfood – I love it! 🙂
I’ve missed your posts and quotes. Glad to see you’re back.
I totally get the fiction is so ridiculous it can’t happen to me philosophy, but if the book is good, I wind up staying up reading.
I’m happy Captain Kirk is able to lull you off to dreamland. Sleep tight 🙂
Thank you Paprika – it does feel good to be back 🙂
You are right!
I totally forgot the addicition of a good read – gawd I really, really need to start reading things for fun again. As a child I would continue reading after lights out with a flash-light under my covers, did you do that? 🙂
Oh b.t.w. did you see the “Liebster Blog award” in my other post? – I nominated you 🙂
I absolutely read after I was supposed to be asleep. I used my baton to hold the covers up over my head while I was reading with a flashlight.
Thank you for the Liebster Award! I wrote back to you after you left the message on my blog. You said some amazingly kind things and I was truly touched by them. I’m working on my acceptance speech post. Stay tuned.
Oh darn it – forgot to check your blog (which was obviously the place you were going to answer) – hah – will go check a.s.a.p.
Your kid-you was smarter than my kid-me b.t.w., it never appeared to me to find something to keep the covers up – I just did this weird little twist and turn to hold it up w/ my shoulder 😉