What in the name of (bleep) is this?
When you hit the sack then doze off, where do your hands go? Have you ever wondered about this? Maybe you have or maybe not. But now that this question lingers around your consciousness, it makes you wonder, doesn’t it? It’s a rather thought-provoking question that nudges the brain into following an interesting trail of thoughts of the realm of sleep. So, where do your hands go when you sleep? Well, how about your feet?
There are actually numerous globally distinguished and advanced facilities for sleep research such as Sleep Research Society, The Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, and American Sleep Research Institute just to name a few, and if you’re incredibly blessed and lucky to be a sleep research specialist, you can in fact get paid to think and come up with questions such as where do your hands, fingers, feet, and toes go when you’re asleep and what positions do you carry out all the way through the course of your slumber. You’re even given government support and budget to provide answers to those questions. And if your luck doesn’t end there and you’re the type of sleep research scientist who seldom gets a nightly visit from the god of sleep, Morpheus, meaning you don’t sleep much thus, a certified insomniac then voila, you also get paid to not sleep at all. It’s crazy, huh? No. Not really.
It’s science: Curiosity.
Obsession towards the nightly affairs of sleep or lack of it is not limited to company of scientists alone. There are over thousands even millions of writers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and artists that venture in it and its various effects. Sleeping positions, mysterious terrain of dreams, quantity of sleep, funny and not so funny sleeping habits such as sleep walking, talking, drooling, and snoring are among the various effects of dozing off that sleep research specialists are having an almost compulsive attachment to. So, why even bother with great effort in something very elementary, innate and common? Let’s start up with this fact; sleep is one of the most essential factors of our existence. It’s basically part of our daily routine and it’s very interesting because the waking world is shut down and the unconscious domain is at play.
But what do these all really mean? If noted electronic indicators of brain waves, scientific records of sleep data and results, and researches regarding sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea and etc. are all removed, what is there to ponder about? As what most of the great philosophical and intellectual minds of all time would declare; there dwell the imagination, creativity, and hidden desire. And as well as the familiar feeling of utmost satisfaction after taking an afternoon forty winks. Hihi.
So, what’s great about energy conservation theory of sleep, when you’re having a blast from speeding off and sprinting in your dreams without getting weary? Or what so nice about an EEG result, a machine that collects and records electrical impulses produced by the brain, when there’s a dire need for you to find a way to keep your cat or dog or whichever choice of pet you may have from leaving drool and love marks on your bed or couch when sleeping? And what’s the purpose of the diversified restorative theories of sleep when you’re elsewhere imagining epic places and wielding cool powers from dreams you try to recall upon waking up?
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines a dream as a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep, an idea or vision that is created in your imagination and that is not real, and as something that you have wanted very much to do, be, or have for a long time. Dreams then are what our hearts so desire which are the most important things, things we get ashamed of, things that lie too close to wherever our secret is buried, like landmarks to a treasure our enemies would love to steal away. Dreams like stories are windows into the soul exposing greatest wishes and fears. They can be pleasant, strange, relaxing or terrible. Sometimes we can control it but other times it just slips away from us like water slipping from cupped hands. Dreams are sleep-stimulated stories created and written by our unrepressed imagination. They are also an all time favorite inspiration for waking instants of creativity and are often used significantly as the starting point of works of both fiction and non-fiction. Try going to any bookstores at any given time of the day and find a variety of dream dictionaries all equipped with meanings about the things that popped up from a dream; be it from pink unicorns to falling teeth.
The choice of sleeping position is another fascinating effect of the sleeping realm. On how one sleep can actually give insight to one’s personality. Do you sleep the correct way by starting at the headboard then move around like clock-work and find yourself at the other side of the bed or worse falling out of it in the morning? Do you keep on tossing and turning or do you just stay in one position like a mummy with your hands crossed over your chest all throughout the night? With all the crazy things going on at your social places such as school or work, do you find yourself tugging so tightly on your pillow and blanket or notice weird nail marks on yourself upon waking? Or realize you’re making movements’ kung-fu fighting actions by kicking, slapping, punching, and flailing around often annoying and bruising people you so happen to share the bed with? Those who are said to be selfish usually steal blankets from their sleeping buddies. Couples or lovers are often fond of cuddling, thus acting out hugging or embracing positions. And parents in one time or another will have their faces covered with cute little butts, bellies, hands, and feet.
Sleeping positions differ depending on the person and as well as his or her sleeping habits. Everything is unique to the individual sleeper, from sleep walking, talking, drooling, and snoring. And to the amusement, dismay, annoyance, even horror to someone who happens to share a room or bed to such creature with the aforementioned funny and not so funny slumber habits, all is maddening. Whatever puddles or oceans of drools you soak your linens with, or how ever loud your snoring gets that it reaches the other village, or whatever whatnot languages you’ve come up with yapping mantras and rants, there is something unique, familiar and a bit of appeal about those annoying sleeping characteristics however unconscious as they may seem.
So, as you slip on your pajamas, arm yourself with pillows and blankets, and hit your bed to sleep tonight, where do your hands go?
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