Darker Skies Book Musing: “Why We Sleep”
The cicadas and katydids are still harmonizing on this beautiful Labor Day evening. WDCB is, again, playing jazz on the JVC on the porch. A Monday at the dusk of summer. The days are now shorter and the nights longer. Soon, my favorite quarter of the year, fall, will be here.
This summer has been like many summers. Every day and night a new beginning and end. A summer night, a breeze through the backyard cottonwood tree and, of course, good books, both fiction and non-fiction. A very satisfying Stephen King story, two wonderful books by Willa Cather and Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep.
Reading Why We Sleep reminded me about the importance of enjoying a quiet and dark night. During our annual vacation on Lake Michigan, near Little Sable, we put our feet in the cool night sand, without passing airplanes and, albeit too much skyglow from Milwaukee and Sheboygan, without blinding glare. Shooting stars, constellations and the Milky Way. Fires and s’mores.
Why We Sleep also reminded me about the power of sleep for our physical and mental health. It pains me to think about our urban neighbors and now, more than ever, our suburban neighbors, who must close their windows and shades to find the power of a regenerating good night’s sleep. Young or old, whether summer, fall, winter or spring, we need eight hours!
A healthy circadian rhythm is very important. A natural, pineal release of our hormonal nocturnal gatekeeper, melatonin, takes us gently into REM and “deep sleep”. Our brain depends on a good night’s sleep to sustain memory, cognition, productivity and social optimism. Our body depends on a good night’s sleep to sustain organs, nerves, muscles and physical spirit. A healthy brain and body sustain a healthy soul.
In Chapter 13, Walker itemizes five environmental reasons for “What’s Stopping You from Sleeping?” He lists at #1 the “dark side” of modern, artificial, constant interior and exterior electric LED light. “During the mid-1870s, Edison Electric Light Company began developing a reliable, mass-marketable lightbulb.” Artificial electric light “put an end” to our natural circadian rhythm. Whether from our handheld devices or exterior LED lights, “by delaying the release of melatonin, artificial evening light makes it considerably less likely that you’ll be able to fall asleep”. The new blue/white LED lights have a “more harmful impact than the warm, yellow light.”
Walker’ book is all about the power of sleep. To get our eight hours, Walker muses that “mood lighting is the order of the night.” Mood lighting is what we found on Lake Michigan, near Little Sable. After only a week, my physical spirit was better. My social optimism improved. My soul is healthier. As we did with our outdoor lights, we have changed our interior lights to warmer 2700k bulbs. Now, if only someone can do something about my neighbor’s barking dogs. Ha.