Sleeping Is Easy

Sleeping should be easy. Everybody else seems pretty good at it. I wouldn't say I have insomnia, but I often wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting to sleep. It's difficult getting to sleep to begin with. I'll read until my eyes are closing and then turn off the light. Yet somehow, in the moment between falling asleep on Carl Sagan and turning off the light, I catch my second wind and find myself wide awake. I try counting and breathing really slowly and deeply. I also try not to think of anything, but this is often a failure. I especially try not to think about comics because if I start drawing comics in my head, I'll never get to sleep.

Another problem is that I get into pretty set sleep routines. I wake up at 6:45 Monday through Friday, which pretty much means I wake up at 6:45 on Saturday and Sunday without the alarm and regardless of the fact that I may have been up until four in the morning. Anyone who has had me spend the night in their house has had to deal with this.

I'm in awe of those people who can sleep until noon.