Today I am facing a serious deficiency in my acquired life skills; it is nearly impossible for me to nap. Not since I was a very small child have I been able to lay down in the middle of the day and actually sleep.
Oh, I can zone out, certainly. Usually in front of the television, or when a book isn't holding my interest. But deliberately go to sleep in daylight? Not likely!
I envy people who can do this. My son has had this talent since he was a kid. He could run at top speed for hours, then instantly switch off and go to sleep. Nap time was accomplished by finding something that would stop him for a couple minutes at which point he would fall asleep. It was a skill that served him well in college, when sleep was generally in short supply.
I suppose a shrink could delve into my psyche and help me uncover the reason behind this lack, but I have learned to live with it. For the most part.
Do you suppose the labeling of this image as "couch potato" could have something to do with my mental block against naps? I suspect the categorization of naps as lazy and unproductive runs very deep.
The issue today is compounded by the intensity of the last week. I'm wiped out and my brain is overflowing. A nap would be lovely, but I just can't make it work.
Intensity? you ask. Yes. As you know, I am once again retired. For real this time, I swear! It's been two weeks since I was in the office. (Does this start to sound like a twelve-step meeting?) In that time I have answered one email - to congratulate a colleague on a major accomplishment - and spent a half-hour on the phone answering a question and pointing the "new guy" in the right direction.
That doesn't sound very intense, except ... The last day in the office was a Friday, and the following Thursday we left on a business trip. Which meant we spent most of the week preparing for the long drive to Central California and on to Las Vegas for a trade show. We still aren't comfortable flying, and the drive allows us to stop and visit our son along the way.
At least we got some blue skies and palm trees thrown in!
The show, Las Vegas Licensing Expo, was three days of exhibits, meetings, lectures, hype, information overload, and walking. Five or six miles each day of walking. Every evening we met with a group of fellow creators to discuss what each of us had seen or done or learned. There was way more than one person could absorb each day, and by sharing our experiences we were able to gain a greater understanding of the topic - especially since for many of us this was our first encounter with the Expo.
(Note: I would highly recommend this approach to anyone visiting a large exhibition of any kind. You won't be able to see or do everything, so find some friends to swap stories each day. Don't wait until the end of the show, you will be so overwhelmed you will have forgotten half of day one by that time. Meet over a meal, or at a coffee shop, in a lobby, wherever you can find a quiet - or semi-quiet [this was Las Vegas, after all] - place to talk. We had a large suite that one of our group had rented and they generously invited us to share the space in the evenings. Those couple hours were invaluable to debrief after each day's activities.)
I will report on the show in a week or two, but I need to give the information and experience a chance to settle a little before I can speak coherently about it.
We fled Las Vegas ahead of the holiday weekend crowd (and holiday hotel rates) and are holed up in our son's apartment, decompressing. But after the long drive, three massively intense days of the show, and another long drive, we are dazed and exhausted.
Thus the desire, if not the ability, to take a nap.
While my nap issue is a very personal and peculiar thing, one I am trying to alter now that my situation will allow for naps, I suspect that we each lack skills that we wish we had. Skills that would enhance our creativity and make our lives better.
Is there a skill you wish you had? Have you tried to acquire that skill? Or learned to live without it? Will the change in circumstances as you move from the workday world to full-time creation change how you approach the issue?
Inquiring minds want to know!