So I had this amazing idea of what I wanted to write to you about today for our daily meditation… but I forgot. The idea came right before falling asleep as the wee hours of the night/morning approached. In the hubris of an ego I still had enough sense about me to be certain I would remember it the next day. I was certain… as we are in this limbo of not fully awake but not yet asleep. Well I don’t remember it so you’ll just have to trust me that it was fabulous, insightful and warm and, as the original topic eluded me I’ve decided to speak about the reason why we get the best ideas right before we fall asleep. (Ha! There you have it you impermanence of memory! Check mate!!!)

So why do the best ideas pop into your mind just as you are drifting off, leaving you to bask in their awesomeness and keeping you awake while you’re working on them as the clock strikes 3 AM, forgetting you had the best intentions of finally getting enough sleep. Why? Distraction of daily life, that’s why. Barry Gordon, professor of neurology and cognitive science at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, shed some light on your post-midnight toils explaining that we are not in fact very much in control of ourselves or our brain. Most of the time on autopilot of day to day tasks we’re only aware of a tiny fraction of the true life going on inside our minds and only a fragment of it permeates to our conscious thought, while most of our thinking, impressions and experiences goes unnoticed while we’re busy surviving and handling the” to do” list. You’re pretty much a passenger in the vehicle of unconscious, idly sipping tea unaware of the machine working under the seats propelling you forward. Sometimes you might get an insight into the depths in your waking hours via slips of tongue or accidental actions, but for the most time you’re not allowed backstage while you’re awake. Maybe that’s for the best because you’d go mad if you spent all of your time on this hyper observant side.

But once you get settled among the sheets and let your body finally relax and recuperate, if you’re doing the sleep thing right, you’re not distracted by the needs and demands of the world any more, you’re not constantly stimulated and your attention is not grabbed by trinkets pulling your sleeve from all side, you’re not burdened with what needs to be done, what is next, you’re not expelling mental energy to control your emotions or arrange impressions, you’re just at rest. All the ideas and thought that pop up are not formed right then and there. They were already there but reality was too loud for you to be able to her them. Once things get quiet some of them have enough strength to overpower the conscious mind, especially in the moment when the consciousness is weaker by starting to fade as you’re entering the pre-slumber chamber. So don’t worry about not remembering them the next morning. You’re not on the brink of Alzheimer’s, just distracted. And don’t do the silly thing of believing you’ll remember it as I did. If it is keeping you awake anyway take a few seconds to write it down. The process of writing it down will also release the brain from trying to hold on to it and you’ll fall asleep faster. So there it is. Sweet dreams and may the muses be kind to you and not pile up all of their gift in the AM.