Photosensitivity and Hybernation or Writing on Grains of Rice
Posted: Saturday, January 30, 2010
by Mark Parsec
Wordcasters
Ever since I was a little child, the cold gray windy winter months have held a subtle, yet powerful, influence over my being. Yet, it was only as an adult that I was able to reflect back and recognize this phenomenon in my life and grasp the true significance of this thing.
So, how shall I explain it?
I know many people in my life whose moods and behaviors are definitely influenced by the seasons. You probably recognize some people like that in your life too. You know the kind, the winter comes and they seem to hibernate. The summer comes and you cannot slow them down. Some medical professionals associate depression in certain patients as being a result of photosensitivity. Apparently, the diminished exposure to sunlight in the winter months influences the body's production of certain hormones, leading to a decline in activity, sluggishness, sleepiness… hibernation!
This, however, has not been the case with me. When the first autumn winds begin to blow, something begins stirring deep within my soul. It is a sensation that is difficult to describe, although it is similar to the excitement and anticipation you might feel as you begin a vacation voyage to a distant paradise. By the time the dark winter months are in full swing, the stirring within me emerges into a flurry of creative activities, chief among which is my inclination to write. While others are slumbering, sleeping and snoring, I find myself busily engaged in a frenzy of writing. Many stories, poems, and lyrics have found their conception in the winters of my mind.
In fact, I can become so engrossed in the process of writing that the hours will slip away like minutes. All sense of time will vanish. Only when the sun begins to peek over the distant horizon outside my window in the early morning hours, might my eyes refuse to labor or my head begin to nod. Oddly, and in contrast to the photosensitive hibernator, I may sleep four or five hours a night consistently during the winter.
I watched a documentary once about an insomniac. This was no minor case of insomnia… this man could NOT sleep. If he was lucky, he might doze off for four or five minutes, at the longest maybe a half-hour. Otherwise, he was very much awake. Nevertheless, to occupy his nocturnal hours, the man harvested his creative energies and turned to painting. Now, this was no ordinary painting. The man would paint landscapes… on grains of rice! Hour upon tedious hour he would peer through his mighty magnifying glass and painstakingly produce the most magnificent scenes of oceans or mountains or starry nights. Physicians who studied the insomniac artist's case decided that the sedentary nature of the man's artwork, coupled with the imagery in painting in minutia, substituted for the man's dream life. Interesting stuff, huh?
Perhaps you are a winter writer who finds yourself typing and creating ALL NIGHT LONG. Perhaps, there is more to it than you realize. Perhaps, it was just the way you were wired. Perhaps, it is your alternative to hibernation. Or… maybe, just maybe, the sedentary nature of writing and the visualization that occurs in the mind, and on the page, is your substitute for sleep.
SO… the next time somebody tells you that you have been swallowed by the computer, or complains because you have been writing all night long, just tell them it's your way of sleeping. Then again, you could always take up writing on grains of rice.
I know many people in my life whose moods and behaviors are definitely influenced by the seasons. You probably recognize some people like that in your life too. You know the kind, the winter comes and they seem to hibernate. The summer comes and you cannot slow them down. Some medical professionals associate depression in certain patients as being a result of photosensitivity. Apparently, the diminished exposure to sunlight in the winter months influences the body's production of certain hormones, leading to a decline in activity, sluggishness, sleepiness… hibernation!
In fact, I can become so engrossed in the process of writing that the hours will slip away like minutes. All sense of time will vanish. Only when the sun begins to peek over the distant horizon outside my window in the early morning hours, might my eyes refuse to labor or my head begin to nod. Oddly, and in contrast to the photosensitive hibernator, I may sleep four or five hours a night consistently during the winter.
I watched a documentary once about an insomniac. This was no minor case of insomnia… this man could NOT sleep. If he was lucky, he might doze off for four or five minutes, at the longest maybe a half-hour. Otherwise, he was very much awake. Nevertheless, to occupy his nocturnal hours, the man harvested his creative energies and turned to painting. Now, this was no ordinary painting. The man would paint landscapes… on grains of rice! Hour upon tedious hour he would peer through his mighty magnifying glass and painstakingly produce the most magnificent scenes of oceans or mountains or starry nights. Physicians who studied the insomniac artist's case decided that the sedentary nature of the man's artwork, coupled with the imagery in painting in minutia, substituted for the man's dream life. Interesting stuff, huh?
Perhaps you are a winter writer who finds yourself typing and creating ALL NIGHT LONG. Perhaps, there is more to it than you realize. Perhaps, it was just the way you were wired. Perhaps, it is your alternative to hibernation. Or… maybe, just maybe, the sedentary nature of writing and the visualization that occurs in the mind, and on the page, is your substitute for sleep.
SO… the next time somebody tells you that you have been swallowed by the computer, or complains because you have been writing all night long, just tell them it's your way of sleeping. Then again, you could always take up writing on grains of rice.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Okay Mark,You may have explained me in the winter hibernation and been refering to my comment about being swallowed by the computer...nonetheless, I will remind you in the spring and summer that winter is over and you will have to jump out of the computer. Don't mess with the wife honey! HeheheLove you,MichelleHi Michelle,Apparently, I was sleeping when I wrote this article.Love you too,Mark
Most humans need sunlight to thrive. Like most plants, if they are left in the shade too long, they wither and feel dead. I write more in the winter months too. Maybe without the sun on our bodies, our mind lights up to fill in for it. I stay at the pool a lot in the summer, or just sit and soak up the sunlight. But with your light skin- one can see you're not a sunflower! Write on.---Always- EllaHi Ella,Actually, I olive toned. The lighting on my profile pic was a little on the bright side. For some reason I can picture my wife there with you next to the pool in the summer, soaking in the sun.MarkYa'll "Come on Down!She's on her way with the Coppertone.... uhhh, do they still sell that?
Sounds like an excuse for getting up late to me, that or cabin fever.Actually, I don't get up late at all. Unless, 6:30 am, is late.MarkMrs Thatcher survived on only 4 hours sleep and look what happened to her-she nicked children's milk!Seriously, I think that sleep is of the utmost importance. You produce increased amounts of growth hormone which is necessary to repair your body; all your healing mechanisms increase when you sleep-that is why ill people tend to sleep a lot .I worry you may not be getting enough.Additionally it is a great antidote to being awake.I said to God last night; 'Father, why did I have such a peculiar dream?'God said ;'Because you were asleep.'Carol,LOL... I'm glad that you were sleeping when you had that dream. I appreciate you and your comments.Always,Mark
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