Sleep Phases

Hank over on vlogbrothers has a quick little video talking about what is arguably a disorder, but only because society doesn’t support it particularly well: having a different sleep pattern than most people.

My natural sleep cycle is the same as his: when left to my own devices, I always tended towards being up til 2 or 3am, and waking up closer to 10am. Of course, for the past several years I’ve had a dog that thinks whenever it gets light out is the right time to wake up, and a job that (when I was living on the west coast) trended towards early morning meetings (to accommodate folks in Europe… and because we just had a lot of morning people on the team). I will say, it’s been a lot easier to wrangle the meetings since moving three time zones eastward.

I’m mostly adjusted to my current cycle (which puts me to bed around midnight and up around 7-7:30), but I still find it pretty easy to start slipping towards 1 or 2am, especially if I’m taken out of my routine for things like vacation. I suspect I’ll still be on this cycle for quite some time, since even if I won the lottery and didn’t need to worry about work schedules, Cecil is still a morning puppy (and Mabel has picked up his habit). And that’s (mostly) fine. But I do sometimes miss the way my brain felt when I was able to be on my natural sleep cycle instead – I feel like I was more relaxed, more at ease, and had more spoons for things.

Hank Green on Seeing Both

Not much to add that wasn’t covered in the video. The world (and life) is a complex mishmash of feelings and motivations and struggles, and to see it through just one lens does both ourselves and others a disservice. Yes, there are plenty of examples of overt harm and things driven by hate, or malice, or ignorance, or sociopathic disinterest and apathy. But it’s not all of what’s happening out there, nor even most of it. It’s worth stepping back occasionally, and appreciating what there is to appreciate, even if it’s not perfect.

Hank’s Guide to the Cold

Hank Explains Living in Cold Climates

I’ve talked about this with a number of people, about why I’m perfectly happy to live somewhere that is grey and rainy but almost never drops below 40 degrees (F), and a lot of the winter is spent right around 50. Hank is dropping some truth bombs here, on how to make the most of living in a cold climate.

He’s right though: try to enjoy it. Gotta find the good parts while you can.

John Taking a Year Off

How various social internet sites occupy our brains has been a recurring topic on here, and I think he summarizes it all pretty well. These sites are working as intended, but I don’t like that intention, and I don’t like how they work for me, personally.

My own experiences with taking time off have had limited success. I still find myself on Facebook or Tumblr or Instagram (or… or… or…) more than I would like, though I’m interacting with it less and have less expectation of interaction on them (which I think is still a net win, but not as much as I’d like). I’m not sure I’m at the point of going cold-turkey (and what shape that would take — where do I want to spend my time?) like John, but it definitely continues to be on my mind.