We look for patterns. It’s human nature. A long… long long time ago, when I was in college, we learned a great deal about how people create pattern where there is no obvious one. We can find faces in granite, or groups in seemingly random things. So I hope this is not just a Gestalt happening when I say I think after all these years I’ve found a pattern in my husband’s sleeping or lack of sleeping actually.
Over the past few weeks we’ve done some renovations to the house. We had an extra bedroom that I use as a writing room, but I hate being tucked away. I’m constantly getting up to look out front or in the living room to see what’s going on. Add to this two very noisy cats who seem to know when I’m coming and stop whatever it is they’re doing. Some day I will catch them in the act.
The plan, which worked beautifully, was to add a set of French doors and two interior windows in the corner of this bedroom. This opened the room, but allowed me quiet simply by closing to the door. I can see the front door, the fireplace, and those pesky cats. It was quite an undertaking considering my husband and I do all the work ourselves. Though the day was physically draining, Chris still didn’t sleep that night when we started opening the wall. The next night however, he slept. Odd as it was, I didn’t think much about it until we came upon more puzzles with the construction.
Rewiring was a challenge. Not because he didn’t know how, he just had to spend a couple of hours working out the best possible way to run the wires around the new opening. He spent a lot of time writing on the inside of the wall where we’d left the opposite drywall so we had less repair. It was mentally taxing.
And there in lies the pattern I’ve found. Yes, physical work will cause him fatigue, but it doesn’t seem to help him sleep. He’s been exercising regularly for the last two months with no results to his sleeping – he does look great though and is happier. However, mental challenges, problems he must work out over the course of a day seem to leave him drained enough to sleep most of the night.
I’ve been watching and I’m thinking I may be on to something here. I hadn’t thought much of it but over the time he was building cabinets in the garage he spent a good deal of time figuring out how to use the boards with the least waste. Mental puzzle. He slept and woke up the next day fairly well.
This may just be a coincidence and I may be reaching for straws. Sometimes we see patterns when they really are not there. He still mostly can’t sleep and is still impossible to get up in the morning, but maybe this is a little step forward. Something to build on. I hope so.
I think I’ll get him an Algebra text. Quadratic equations should put him right to sleep.
