We’ve sprung ahead friends, and I’m all misaligned again. An hour of my day has been lost to the clock. Suddenly I’m up at 5 a.m. instead of my usual 4 a.m. I’ll be lucky if I make it past 9 p.m. tonight. Better turn on the brightest lights in the house at 7 p.m. and put the brakes on that melatonin!
I know what you’re thinking. C’mon, it’s only an hour. But my body and my brain have a kind of understanding with the sun that keeps me feeling my best. Why can’t we just let the days be the days, shorter or longer?
I’ve decided I’m not going to stress about it mostly because every time we spring forward, it reminds me that winter is mostly over. But it also reminds me that everything fun happens at night — parties, concerts, special events. Sometimes I wish the world would just cater to my rhythm for once. Oscars at noon, anyone?
The way we experience time feels so artificial sometimes. We’re constantly being pulled away from our natural, seasonal rhythms in favour of mechanical and cultural timekeeping. Take my Fitbit app. By the time it pings me to “start winding down for bed,” I’m already asleep. Ringing in the New Year at midnight? Not in my wildest dreams. Sometimes I’d like to just get rid of all the clocks! Mostly because I’m constantly measuring my life against them.
I recently went to see my doctor because of what I perceived as abnormal sleep habits. (You know, the ones I’ve had for like 25 years.) I wanted to find out why I rise so ridiculously early and what I can do about it. After testing me for this, that, and the other thing, he finally concluded “You’ve got an advanced sleep-wake cycle. But it’s only a disorder if you think it is. It’s natural — for you.”
I can’t tell you how comforting it was to hear him say that. My life had become dominated by timekeeping; I’m talking monitors and spreadsheets. Free of all that, I now embrace my chronodiversity! I’m going to be my best when I’m at my best — and that’s early. It feels good. It feels natural. I suppose I would’ve made a good farmer (except for all the dirt and the bugs and the cow sh*t).
I realize we’ll never escape clock time. Our entire lives are built around it. But time has become so commodified, hasn’t it? We use it. We waste it. We save it. We even think we can make it! But what exactly is our relationship with this invisible, inescapable thing that surrounds us, and is always running out? Just look in the mirror and you’ll see — a grim reminder that it’s only on loan.
I’ve mostly made peace with my early-to-bed-early-to-rise rhythm. And I know I’ll get today’s hour back on November 3rd. For now, at least, I feel less alone because spring is near and all of nature is waking up, not just me.
Yup, I’m a “lark” and this morning my people are chirping! Robins, Cardinals, Sparrows, Grackles. And soon those Blue Jays will arrive on April 8th. Wow, a solar eclipse plus a home opener on the same day! Sounds auspicious to me. I predict a World Series win this year, y’all.
Thanks for giving me a slice of your time!
