My Reading List

I just finished reading the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. Boy, did this book piss me off!! I truly believe it is our duty and right as thinking and feeling human beings to question anything and everything that does not sit right with us. Blindly accepting something as truth is infuriating! The last paragraph of this book frightened me as well!

"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which." (George Orwell, 1903-1950)

No truer words have been uttered about what "humanity" has become, or at least what the people who run our countries have turned into. Is there hope for us? I certainly would like to think so.

Do I recommend this book for others to read? YES! Anything that would instigate and provoke the amount of thought that this book has in me is definitely worth it! Anything that can spark debate and discussion like this book has in me should be read! I've got a copy if anyone wants to borrow it, and its a short read too!

Now that I'm finished school I do have a lot more time on my hands. I've posted this to my facebook before, but I have a list going of books I am going to read. I won't necessarily write a review on all of them, just the books that really affect me.

The thing I most enjoy about books (and movies and songs, and all things of that nature - entertainment) is that they are meant to make you think and feel. It may be something as stupid as "Wow, I enjoyed that book. It was a nice escape and it was written well" to what I've written about "Animal Farm". I am also not going to go into much detail because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it. Plus I'm not a reviewer...I just spout my own thoughts.

My list to date (in no particular order) is:

The Alchemist (read it)
Animal Farm (read it)
The Davinci Code
Angels and Demons
The Shopaholic Series
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Kite Runner (is sitting in front of me right now as I type this, waiting to be read)
Kindred
Book of Negros
My Sister's Keeper
The Road
Fool by Christopher Moore
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Mothers and Daughters

Please let me know if you have anything to add to this list. I am up for anything! All genres!!

Personal Legend

I recently read the book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. The book is about a young shepherd named Santiago whom we follow while he seeks his personal legend. From this book I gleaned 3 things:

1) We all have a personal legend that we can seek and fulfill – not everyone realizes theirs;


2) If you truly, and purely, want something, the universe will aide you in this in a positive way; and


3) Sometimes what you seek is in the most obvious and simple place, but it takes following what your heart desires to realize it.

I recommend it. I wish I knew Portuguese so I could read the original. The translation felt a bit stiff at times, but for the most part it was a good story. And as cheesy as the teachings are in this book, they definitely rang true for me. I too have goals that I have been seeking since I could talk. My determination and want of these things have never wavered. And I believe the universe has aided me in a positive way. Please understand that when I say “positive”, I certainly don’t mean it has just been handed to me. To be aided in a positive way means going through trials and tribulations – the universe is going to teach you what you need to know in order to successfully obtain what you want. Some things will come easier than others, depending on how quick you pick up on it. With other things it will feel as though you’re banging your head against a wall because you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over and over and over again, and that will keep happening as long as you’re not learning from those mistakes.


I also don’t believe to fulfill your personal legend is to achieve one thing. It’s a legend! It can have many twists, turns, pathways, beginnings and endings. It’s your story, and a story that is focussed on one thing is a bit boring, no? I certainly prefer stories with sub-plots, interesting characters and both sad and happy endings.
Have you thought about what your personal legend could be?

Thats it. I'm done!

I've learnt enough. Yes, yes, yes, sleep is important! I know this! My motivation to continue with this challenge is gone. I am tired of writing about my sleep habits, and I doubt that any of my readers are actually finding this interesting. I find it boring. Almost boring enough to help me sleep at night - how ironic. And I am tired of feeling limited in terms of whether to go out or not during the week.

During the short time that I have participated in this challenge, I have learnt that sleep is important, but this isn't something that is going to easily change for me. This challenge is creating more stress for me than I need...so I'm done.

On to the next challenge!!! Stay tuned...

Boy, I like that snooze button!

When I am a slave to an alarm clock, I press the snooze button way too many times. I don't think its very healthy, but I've become quite accustomed to pressing snooze every five minutes for about an hour before I finally realize I'm uber late and drag my butt out of bed. I've tried setting my alarm for 5 minutes before I want to actually get up so that I allow myself to get an extra hour or so of sleep, and it hasn't helped. However, the first week of this challenge was started with quite a bit of sleep deprivation. I'm going to continue to set my alarm for 6:55am and attempt to get up at 7.

I also didn't really follow the rules this weekend, but that was also partly experimental. I didn't set an alarm clock, and I didn't go to bed and get up at the same time each day. I wanted to see what my body was saying and let myself wake up naturally. On Friday night I went to bed before midnight, but I read for a bit in bed, so I didn't fall asleep until about 12:30. I woke up the first time at about 8ish, but fell back asleep quite quickly. I then awoke again around 10:30 or so, and actually felt rested. My first thought was "Oh great, my body needs 10 hours of sleep. Yay, no social life for me!" I went about my day as normally as I could (its rare that I get a day off with absolutely nothing planned - I usually fill my days off with other things I need to do that I don't have time to take care of during the rest of my time). I went out with friends and didn't drink. We had an early night (for us) and I got home at about 1:30am. I wasn't sleepy at all, so I just chilled in front of the TV for a bit and finally went to bed at 2:30am and fell asleep right away. I woke up around 8:30. I tried to go back to sleep and couldn't. I stayed in bed until about 9:30, hoping that I would just fall back asleep. Nope. So what, now my body really DOES only need 6 hours of sleep? WTF? And I feel very rested!

Well at least I get to start this next week without sleep deprivation and can hopefully get a better read out of my body. My schedule has changed a bit because I've given up volleyball until after the Olympics. I tried getting out to Britannia to play, and it worked out the first week, but the second week it sold out an hour before I got there. I don't live in the neighbourhood and thought it just wasn't worth my time to make the effort only to find out it sold out. If it were downtown, and I found out it had sold out, no big deal. But the fact that I have to take transit out there just makes me not want to make the effort. So I will wait for Coal Harbour to open again in March.

Back to my Sunday NOT at work! :-D

THAT'S Why!!!!!!

Well I've figured out why I've been so tired the last couple days. No, I'm not pregnant. Just think for a minute...there ya go!

Last night was a  bit better. I had a hot bath at 10:30 and I was in bed by 11. I still stayed up and read until about 11:30, and then I tossed and turned a bit before I actually fell asleep (too much on my mind, as per usual). I was going to try and wake up to be somewhere by 7, but that didn't happen. I was awake, but I kept hitting snooze until I finally dragged my butt out of bed at 7:07. Its an improvement though.

I also had a pretty busy day at work, and hit the gym with my trainer at 6, so I feel back on track.

Just a quickie today... :-)

This isn't working...

I need to be harder on myself and actually start listening to my own rules. Last night I ended up heading to bed at 1 am, and I stayed up reading for at least half an hour. Then I woke up at about 7, tried to stay awake and ended up sleeping in until 7:45.

At the end of the day, I get home, change into my workout clothes, take care of a couple things at home, and I'm exhausted. I fall asleep on the couch for half an hour and that's it. Now I'm groggy and not in the mood to do anything. I forced myself to stay awake though so I don't have a restless sleep later.

I'm giving it a week. And even though I have to be in bed at 12:45 this week according to my rules, I'm going to bed earlier than that tonight. I'm still deprived from the weekend.

I have taken advice of my friend Darren (see comments on the post entitled "Who Needs Sleep?"). Before the New Year, I was determined to start 2010 with a clean bedroom, and that happened! I make my bed every morning, and when I get home it calls to me. Just having a tidy bedroom with a cozy bed in it is really relaxing when I do finally choose to go to bed. My bed has a nice, huge down comforter on it and a beige faux suede down throw at the foot of the bed. I have 2 pillows per side of the bed under the comforter and then 2 throw pillows and 4 stuffed animals sitting on top. Luxury!


My only struggle (and I think this may have always been a struggle for me) is that I am scared I am going to miss something after I go to sleep. I know, I'm crazy.


Sigh...

Day 1 / Night 1

Well, I didn't get up at 7. In fact, I slept in until 8, which is when I usually start work. Thankfully I have a bit of a "grace period" if you will where I work. As long as we do the amount of time, it doesn't really matter when we start. It would be one thing if I was half an hour late and left at my normal time. But if I'm half an hour late, I stay half an hour longer. Only makes sense.

Effect # 1 of this lack of sleep - rambling.

But overall the day was good. I was busy at work and got lots done! I was very very very very irritable this morning, even after my first coffee. I was still irritable at lunch! I finally relaxed when I just stopped and took a breath and just focused.

I didn't go to the gym like I was planning. I had a bit of a strange weekend, so I am going into this little experience even more sleep deprived than usual. I almost feel like I should have gone to bed about an hour ago, but as soon as I was thinking of turning in, my computer downloaded a virus. I got on the email right away and my brother helped me fix it, but I was panicking until about 20 minutes ago. Brothers who know stuff about computers ROCK!


I have about 24 minutes until I am supposed to turn in, so I will keep this one a bit short, and write more either tomorrow or in a couple days.


Happy Sleeping!! :)

Who Needs Sleep?

First off, I'd like to welcome any new readers to my blog! I've just learnt how to link blogger to facebook (thank you Darren!), so I know I will be reaching a bigger audience.

It is debated constantly, it has been written about in song and it is something that we, as a society, seem to lack - sleep. It is an apparently well known fact that an adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Right now I am lucky if I get 6 hours of sleep (and yes, even though my behaviour questions this at times, I am an adult). I can't help it though! If I try to go to bed before midnight, I toss and turn and end up with a worse sleep than if I just went to bed at 12:30 am or 1 am and fall asleep right away. When I wake up in the morning though, I just can't get myself out of bed and end up pressing the snooze button at least half a dozen times. By a domino effect, this causes me to leave my morning routine to the absolute last minute possible, causing me to rush, and then getting to work a little bit flustered (and sometimes a little bit late).

So what does this mean? Well, I gave myself a 30 day fitness challenge back in September (read all about it!!) so why not give myself a sleep challenge? That is just a further part to wellness, right?

This is what my schedule next week is currently (leaving out any last minute plans with friends of course):

Monday, January 18, 2010

• 8 am - 4:30 pm - Work
• 5 pm - 6:30 pm - Gym
• 8 pm - 10 pm - Music

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

• 8 am - 4:30 pm - Work
• 7:45 pm - 10 pm - Volleyball

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

• 7 am - 7:30 am - Appointment
  
• 8 am - 4:30 pm - Work
• 6 pm - 7 pm - Personal Training
• 9 pm - 10 pm - Music

Thursday, January 21, 2010

• 8 am - 4:30 pm - Work
• 7 pm - 10 pm - Volleyball

Friday, January 22, 2010

• 8 am - 4:30 pm - Work
• 7 pm - 9 pm - Band Practice

Saturday, January 23, 2010

• No plans! I have the weekend off (miracle of miracles!) from my weekend job

Sunday, January 24, 2010

• No plans!

On most days, I should be able to get to bed by 11 pm. If I get to bed by 11 pm and wake up at 7 am, that's 8 hours of sleep! And it is still plenty of time in the morning to get me to work on time. On paper, this looks so easy!

Will there be challenges within the challenge? Yes...

• I am a social butterfly!! And to boot, I'm a night person! I like going out with friends and staying out until 2 or 3 am. Not every night, but at least 1 or 2 nights during the week!

• I love watching the news, and feel there is a more comprehensive look at the day's events if I watch the 11 o'clock news. I'm going to miss being an informed member of society.

• If I am in bed by 11, that doesn't mean I'm going to be asleep by 11, which is what is needed for a full 8 hours of sleep. So that means I have to put myself to bed by 10:30 at least so that I can read and try and put myself into a more relaxed state so I can fall asleep by 11.

• The last challenging thing about this is a major one because its one of those things that I have never had any sort of control over - creativity. When it hits, you have to listen to it or fear losing your idea and never getting it back. When does it hit for me? In the middle of the night usually. Picking up my nylon-string guitar (so I don't disrupt my neighbours) and plucking out a haunting chord progression (think of the chord progression one might use for Canon or Everybody Hurts or something with a lot of minor chords) can relax me when I am restless, and be the key to a new song that I start. This even happened to me last week and I know the creative juices are a LOT more present these days with no more school.

Now, one can't go cold turkey when it comes to forcing oneself to sleep at a certain time, so there has to be some sort of progression I think. My above schedule is pretty much the way it is going to be for the next little while. So this is what I'm going to do, starting Monday, January 18, 2010, ending Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (30 days!!!) I am going to challenge myself to progressing from 5-6 hours of sleep per night to 7-8 hours of sleep per night. From January 18-24, 2010, based on a 1 am regular bedtime, I am going to go to bed 15 minutes earlier (12:45 am). From January 25-31, 2010, I am going to increase the time increment to 30 minutes from the previous time (12:15 am). From February 1-7, 2010, I am going to increase the time increment to 45 minutes from the previous time (11:30 pm) (yay, I'll at least get the headlines!). From February 8-16, 2010, I am going to go to bed at 10:45 pm. I am going to get up at 7 am each day, even on my days off. I think this is progressive enough.

During this 30 day challenge I am going to monitor my moods, the way I deal with stress, my overall wellness during the day and my ability to jump out of bed vs. dragging myself out of bed. What if I don't see any difference in the way I feel after the challenge? Well, then I'll do what I do now - sleep when I'm tired.

That's all for now! Happy sleeping!

PS - got any hints for sleep aids or other things I can challenge myself on? Leave a comment!!