5/28/2010
Only seven hours

"And you are never not sleepy in your lifetime," I told Gwen last night.

Quite simply, she's a night person. She's awake at night, and asleep during the day. She'd text me at four in the morning, and I'd read it at five in the morning, and I'd reply knowing that she won't because she's probably asleep... and then she does.

"I haven't been getting it though," she answered. "Six hours lang."

"All those gigs?" I said. For some reason she entered this gig-going phase in her life.

"Yeah. Nakakauwi na ako ng 3am, considering malapit samin."

"But you're growing up, Gwen."

"I wanna sleep moreee."

"They say adults only get six hours of sleep, so it's a sign of things to come."

I remember reading that little tidbit when I was a kid. Newborn babies, apparently, sleep an average of 21 hours a day. As we grow, the amount of sleep our body needs starts to drop, so a seven-year-old would probably need ten, and a 16-year-old would need eight, and a 36-year-old would need only six. I remember wondering about the elderly. Do they even sleep?

The irony is, they're stereotypically portrayed as people who sleep a lot.

I'm 21, and I'm aware that I sleep an average of seven hours a day. I get home at around eight in the evening, and I end up dozing off at ten. I still try to sleep eight, though, especially over the weekend, the only time when I can sleep without my phone's alarm clock interrupting me.

The problem is, I don't get seven hours of sleep anymore. I still sleep at ten, and I still set my alarm to play Mulder and Scully at five in the morning, but I wake up before my alarm. At four in the morning.

I still fall asleep, but I feel frustrated anyway because my body's fighting itself. I know that I need eight hours, or at the very least, seven hours. I know that I go home tired from all the work and I know that I need all the rest that I can get. And then my body gives me six hours, which isn't enough.

Unless it's enough already. Am I growing old?

"I'll try getting more sleep when school starts," she said.

"You're not doing much anyway," I answered. "I mean, you're waiting lang, right? As you said?"

"Yeah. Pero lately kasi, gigs are keeping me up. And being the awesome fan girl that I am..."

"Ang basa ko 'fat girl'. Sorry."

"Ang supportive ko."

"Wala namang masama dun basta kaya mo, right?"

"Yeah."

"Unless you drop dead in the middle of a gig, sleeping, snoring. Do you snore?"

And your responses...

I don't snooore!!!

Anonymous Anonymous ‒ 5/28/2010     

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