Reflections: Sleep

Sleep, won’t you come and take me away? Take me away to the Land of Nod? The Land of Nod where the grass is green and the sky is blue, birds sing, butterflies flutter, lamb bleat, crickets cricket, trees stand colourful and tall and fences are well kept.

Sleep is like a drop of happiness in a sea of troubles. It erases reality, taking with it any issues, problems, complications, worries.

Ok, so sleep isn’t all about candyfloss. I know first-hand that if you are worried about something, this is reflected in your dreams, through a dragon chasing you or falling off the edge of a kerb perhaps. Besides, sleep serves a serious function: to keep us awake.

All humans and animals need sleep. Without sleep, we stop being able to function properly.

I carried out a little experiment with a friend whilst at university, to see how long we could go without sleep. It wasn’t the most scientific of experiments and basically consisted or me and my friend staying awake for two nights, through sheer determination and a deranged sense of purpose. A lot of tea was consumed, and the odd bit of coffee although less so in my case as this tends to make my head feel six feet above my shoulders. Not helpful, particularly when you have had no sleep. I remember the first day and night was fine, and even the second day – I’m sure many of us have pulled an all-nighter at some point due to study, work or fun commitments. We humans are tough, and this poses few challenges on us other than tiredness and feeling drained. Going into the second night was hard, and we had to keep taking ourselves out for walks in the freezing November air just to stay awake. Things start to shift, blur a little at the edges, speech becomes harder and you struggle not to slur. It reminded me of the aftermath of a heavy night out! By the third morning, we were starting to be in trouble and decided we had performed our duty to science.

I obviously would not recommend anyone tries to stay awake longer than necessary. Not least, because it can be very dangerous – we have all heard stories of people causing accidents as a result of driving after insufficient sleep; and on a less serious note, we know a lack of sleep means we are unable to think so clearly or behave so rationally.

Humans need sleep. It recharges our batteries. It ensures we are awake when we are awake. It makes us feel alive. It keeps us sane.

And on that note, I best go and find some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!