Day 154 -- sleepless in Nova Scotia

Well -- it seems official. Someone from the insomnia family has overstayed their welcome. <sigh>  I've been awake well into the early morning hours for a couple weeks or more. It makes thinking and working very difficult as cognitive functioning seems negatively affected. Why is this occurring? Could it be the pile of work that seems not to diminish, or perhaps the constant stream of e-mails from all sectors of my life each demanding some urgent response. Maybe it is that I just want to hide for a while and not interact with anyone <smile>.

When reading for lectures this past term, recent research highlighted the changes in the aging brain (that is any brain over 30 years old). It seems that as we age, the brain loses the ability to adapt to a reduction in hours slept. In youth and early 20s, an 'all nighter' will cause the brain to compensate with quality and quantity of sleep the next evening. With age, this process becomes less sensitive and it may take many nights to recover and restore that equilibrium. With inadequate sleep, the thinking processes function less effectively -- causing the dreaded 'loss of nouns' and my constant verbal charades, which are also adversely affected with less sleep. It is all a vicious cycle making one appear 'dotty' when fatigue is the major culprit.

So -- the song today reminds me of these occurrences, though my sleeplessness is for different reasons than the lyrics describe. There are many wonderful versions of this song, but I chose this one from a singer from Saskatoon. The orchestration is lovely as is the clarity of her voice. Enjoy!

In the wee small hours of the morning -- Joni Mitchell