Full Night's Sleep?

Tonight, I'm reading Molly's blog at 2am. I'm surprised at how well-rested I feel for someone who got a mere 8 hours of sleep last night (and 6 hours the night before!) Since adolescence I have vacillated wildly between being sleep-deprived and overcompensating for being sleep-deprived. For the last several years I've pulled all-nighters and replaced a full-night's sleep with a nap whenever necessary-- but ordinarily, I'd feel cheated if I didn't get at least 10 (at best 12) hours of sleep a night.

All these years I thought people were just being tough (and lying to themselves) when they said 8 hours was plenty. Now, here I am, unemployed, going to bed whenever I want and setting my alarm for 8 hours post-lights out-- whenever that might be. I'm getting up in the morning, doing stuff during the day, and going back to sleep for 8-hour stretches at night.

I feel like I'm inventing these cultural norms!

From what I'm reading in Molly's latest posts, it sounds like Molly's making some discoveries herself. Biking to the coast, couch surfing, wow it's 2:32am.

More about Molly's blog later. I suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to be unconscious for 8 hours.

(It's not your blog that's putting me to sleep, Molly-- although I hope I'll dream about the place where the forest meets the sea! The gleam of your handlebars in the sun, the city lights of Roskilde, the fjords at night...)