The Readers Digest this month offered a whole list of ways to sleep well. I feel that there must be something wrong with me. They say that you should go to bed at regular times. Ah, well, I go to bed at any time from 7pm to 2am.
They say that you should take a short walk before bedtime. Ah well. If I did that I’d be doing it on a sidewalkless country road in the pitch dark and I probably would sleep exceptionally well after that – the dead do.
They say that I should avoid eating fatty foods or drinking stimulants in the evening. Ah well, do coke and a toasted cheese sandwich count? (Apparently yes, they’re guaranteed to give me sleepless nights.) And they say that I should have a cup of chamomile tea – I HATE herbal teas.
And – They say that if I dream recurring action-filled dreams then I may have Parkinson’s, PTSD, epilepsy, or migraines – I don’t.
So what’s the outcome? I do all of the above and sleep peacefully. Not sure if that means that I’m atypical or if the list is wrong.
As for the final item, I have none of the problems listed. But I have recurring action-filled dreams which I may then wake up to write down in precis, write out in full later, and sell to various markets as short stories. The last one of those appeared in an American anthology a couple of months ago. Thanks, I’d rather keep my recurring action-filled dreams, I get paid for them and they’re fun to dream.
Conclusion not all magazine articles apply to me…or possibly you either. Don’t take them too seriously.
1 comment
I had such a dream last might. A fantasy. Sooo much seems to happen in my dreams these days. I find it hard to remember it all and the astonishing detail in them. I’ve heard people say that we dream in black and white, not so in mine. Every one is a blaze a colour (I wouldn’t want it any other way). My dreams are often like mini epic movies. Great story ideas, powerful imagery and even complicated character development. They only come in snapshots but seem to tell a complete story. I guess it’s a bit like a visual synopsis. They’re fun to dream alright.