I know I’ve had insomnia since practically birth. I was the baby who never got her nights and days straight.
Twenty years later, and I'm still that child, minus the getting to sleep during the day because at some point I had to grow up and never sleep again. OK, not that drastic, but sometimes it can definitely feel that way.
On one hand, staying up to finish assignments is really no problem for me because my brain doesn’t quit working when it is supposed to: last minute everything is my forte. That energizer bunny is up there like a noisy neighbor at 3 a.m., but that lab report's done. On the other, staying up through that lecture at 9 a.m. can test my ability to sleep with my eyes open at times. I tell myself don’t you dare touch an energy drink though because you won’t sleep for two days.
If you’re anything like me, it would be easier to count the nights you have slept than the days that you haven’t. You want to throw something at those people that take 0.2 seconds to go to sleep. Even snoozing in the middle of conversations, or movies. Like have they even planned out their dream, what they had to do tomorrow, checked social media, checked what’s for lunch, thought about life, tossed 15 times, or calculated the hours of sleep they’ll get if they go to sleep right this instant? What’s even worse is that they can sleep a full seven hours with no problem. Then they’ll wake up beautifully, the sun will shine, birds will chirp outside (or that’s what I imagine that is like), face totally free of eye bags. Which are the complete worst, no eye makeup hack can help this “I look like I killed a man once, but my eyeliner’s on point,” face. Though, I personally couldn’t tell you what I would look like without them. That same person is the one you could shake, yell, jump on their bed, set them on fire, they’re still asleep. The wind blows stronger than usual from the North, and without even having great hearing it will wake me up.
Just take solace in that you have way more time to get everything done, and we finish our lists on Netflix quicker. You always finish movies. Books are finished faster. You’re a procrastinating pro. Plus, in cases of emergency you’re always up to drag the other person down the hall and be the hero. Also laundry is no big deal when nobody is taking up the washers when you’re up. So who’s the real winner here.
So hold your heads high, or as high as you can without the sun getting in them, and know that us insomniacs are all dealing with the same problem and you are not alone. Well maybe now you are because you’re probably reading this at an ungodly hour.
