Do you have trouble falling asleep? Apparently our society has become so wired and frenetic that more and more and more people have been finding it difficult to unwind. Personally, I drink a nice warm cup of coffee just before bed. It always helps. My body is too big to be affected by the caffeine and the nice warm feeling in my tummy reminds me of the good old days when I was…much younger.
My grandson is starting his dependence on technology early. He has a machine that plays him white noise so that he can fall asleep more easily. On alternate days, the machine plays the sound of running water (fortunately, he wears a diaper), distant thunder or the sound of a cool breeze.This reminds me of the times when I used to watch the static on television. The white noise is actually engrossing. My theory is that the brain starts to vibrate in harmony with the static so that the mind is completely empty. Very soothing.My grandson indeed has another, older technological sleep aid, a soother, something he sticks in his mouth to keep it busy while his mind tunes in to the white noise static. Fortunately, I am beyond such devices. But as I sit here typing, my mouth seems to fall open and the candy I am sucking on keeps on falling out and sticking to the keyboard.In keeping with family tradition, my son could never keep the soother in his mouth when settling in for a nap, so he came to rely on his thumb. That appendage never fell off and was always there on the end of his hand when he wanted it. Right now I have to keep licking my own thumb and forefingers to get the candy goo off them. I can’t figure out why this is relaxing instead of annoying.When I was younger, I never had trouble falling or staying asleep. I used to live on the third floor of a building on Yonge Street, the main street in Toronto and I got used to sleeping with the noise of traffic going by. This was a little like the white noise except that every once in a while there would be a shout, a dog barking, a cat screeching or a siren. Usually that meant that I just incorporated the sound into whatever I was dreaming about.I would be dreaming of a picnic in the countryside when, all of a sudden a fire engine would race by out of the blue. Somehow it seemed to make sense at the time.What I discovered is that I could not sleep in suburbia when I visited a friend or relative. I kept listening for the sounds of the street traffic. There weren’t any. The quiet kept me up for hours. When I did fall asleep, I was awoken between 4 and 5 in the morning by the sound of birds chirping and twittering. I am not a violent person but if ever I wanted a gun to silence others, it was then. That noise drove me practically insane.Which reminds me of why I am writing about this. I tried to go to sleep about a half hour ago and couldn’t. I was lying there listening to nothing when I realized that the sound of a drip in the kitchen had become as loud as a bomb. I waited for it. It didn’t happen. And then, boom! The drop hit the metal sink and reverberated throughout the house. It traveled down the hall seeking out my ear before making any noise. Now that I am up sitting at the computer I can hear every creak in the pipes or in the wood floor. Whenever I shift in my seat, the noise rises like heat. There went the furnace, circulating the forced hot air. Wait for it. Wait for it. There! There goes the fridge through its freezing cycle.The sound of my own breath is like the heavy stroke of thunder. A window vibrates to the movement of the breeze outside. The clack, clack of the computer keys is becoming ever more noticeable – and annoying. Now I know the meaning of deafening quiet. No wonder we can’t fall asleep. I need to relax. Actually, just sitting here watching this computer screen has its own calming effect. The screen just looks back at me. My mind is going as blank as the page. Can’t seem to move my fingers. Technology helps me fall asleep again. Good nighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Humour me please 