my new normal
I used to be normal. Or at least I functioned within a semi-normal state of being. There was a schedule I followed, a general routine.
But ever since I started writing at night & by hand, my life is topsy-turvy & upside-down.
Used to be, I’d actually set my alarm & get up at 8am or so—sometimes earlier. This is not to say that I am a morning person. I sincerely am not. It would always take me a while to really wake up by feeding the cats & exercising for an hour. (Because I have to do that sort of thing while I’m still sleepy & groggy, otherwise my brain catches on & tries to talk me out of it. Often succeeding. :runrun ) But the point is, I knew what daylight looked like. Sometimes I even saw the majority of the sun come up.
After putting in my time on the Torture Cycle or with the weights, I’d check e-mail, update my Twitter & Facebook statuses. (Because I know y’all wait with bated breath to find out what new bit of excitement is going on in my ever-so-glamorous life & cannot function until I tell you. :muahaha ) Sometimes I’d even work on a new blog post—like this one only, you know, interesting. :moon )
Then, even though it was much closer to lunchtime, I usually grabbed a bit of breakfast. Or if I’d spent too long at the computer, sometimes I went straight for a heartier lunch.
And after that, with my belly full & my busy work out of the way, I’d pull out my AlphaSmart and get to work. While it was still light out.
Nowadays, I drag myself out of bed when the sun is already high in the sky & heading down. The poor Kittehs don’t know what the hell is going on & wonder why I’ve suddenly put them on a starvation diet. (They definitely aren’t used to not being fed every five minutes. :Huh )
Almost immediately, I head to the computer because it’s already so late, I don’t want anyone thinking I died. Or usually, because I want to be sure to alert readers to what’s going on here at WIPs or elsewhere before you’re all shutting down your computers & heading home from work. :oops
It’s all very confusing, I admit. And I hope you know enough to just show up over here to see what’s going on for yourselves. Eventually, I will show up. But in the words of every teenager in every movie who ever ran from inbred cannibals with a group of friends: Go on without me! Save yourselves! Okay, maybe they didn’t actually say that. I, for instance, would be saying, Get the hell out of my way! & tripping you to buy myself some time! :runrun (Just sayin’.)
Then, after all of that, I still climb on the Torture Cycle, but I try not to look at the clock when I do it because it’s just too bizarre to be on there at 1pm when I used to be on by 9am. (Yesterday, it was actually 3:30pm, which almost made me cry. :sick )
Once I finish, I grab some breakfast…except how the heck can I call it that when it’s nowhere near morning anymore? Most of the time, I don’t even bother with toast or cereal or oatmeal the way I used to. What’s the point? I just go straight for lunch. 
For some reason, I usually end up back at the computer after that, as well as doing a bunch of the everyday tasks I used to do as soon as I got up.
Then it’s time to get down to business, usually when it’s already very dark & everybody else is getting ready for bed. And instead of grabbing my AlphaSmart the way I used to, I now grab a tablet & pencil, scribbling until the wee hours of the morning. Usually until about 3am, sometimes as late as 5am.
I will be the first to admit this is totally bizarre. It feels bizarre. I feel as though I’ve fallen into a parallel universe where day is night, light is dark, & it’s apparently normal to be getting up just as the buses are bringing small children home from school. :drinkup
But I also have to say that it’s working for me. I’m writing faster, having more fun, & getting more done than I have in a long time. So what can I do? I think I have to embrace it. At least until this book is finished & the world turns itself right-side up again.
Comments
8 Comments • Comments Feed
Mary Kirkland says:
Hey whatever works is the best way to get things done. I have a weirdest sleep/wake patterns too but mine seem to change with the seasons. In the summer I stay up all night writing articles and playing on my blog and on fb/twitter and then in the winter I get up early and am on all morning and go to bed early. I am normally a night person and like to be up at night more than during the day, but with two other people in the house I will take whatever free time to myself I have, whenever I can get it. So whatever works best…and gets the job done is what I do.
On January 31, 2012 at 11:40 am
Jessica Lemmon says:
I remember those days…except I worked 2nd shift at a restaurant and spent my evenings @ work and my late nights imbibing spirited drinks with my co-workers. :drinkup I recall once leaving a friend’s house as the sun was coming up. It was beyond bizarre. :oops
Weirdly enough, every since I became vegan (coincidence???), mornings have gotten easier. :peekaboo My hubs and get up easily every a.m. at 7 on the weekends…though that before 6 a.m. stuff on two of my workdays is for the peacocks. :curses
Whatever works, I say do it! :whip Maybe that’s selfish of me…I’d say anything to insure you’re writing your fingers to the bone for my entertainment. :muahaha
Oh…and if you’re just now getting this (it’s almost 1 p.m.) allow me to wish you a hearty GOOD MORNING! :winkwink
On January 31, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Bonia says:
I to say if it works for you don’t stress about it to much!
I mean lots of people are more night people then day. I am one of them, however I work a 9-5 job. I’d much rather be up at night, something about the darkness.
On January 31, 2012 at 2:30 pm
jay says:
:rolf :rolf Thanks for the laughs, Heidi! I really needed that today. But as you said it works so I welcome you to the world of us night owls! :blowkiss :winkwink
On January 31, 2012 at 6:34 pm