Dear Reader Column 01-28-10

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Dear Reader,

I couldn't sleep last night, so I got out of bed and started answering some business emails. Five minutes after I hit SEND a reply showed up in my in box. Not an "I'm out of the office" auto responder, or a standard, "Thanks, I got your email." No, it was a personally drafted note, by a person who was obviously up at two in the morning, just like me.

"So, what are you doing up at two in the morning?" I sent another email to my fellow insomniac. The question I really should have asked is, "What is it that's keeping you from sleeping at two in the morning?" That would be the real story. I imagine most people aren't willing to talk about what keeps them up nights. Oh, I'm sure they'd share generalities: indigestion, worried, drank too much coffee, but those are just "How are you today? I'm fine," responses.

The tone of an email quickly changes at two in the morning. It may have started out as a business correspondence, but a couple of email replies flying back and forth, and pretty soon it's a pajama party. Two girls chatting in the middle of the night, who both obviously have troublesome issues on their minds, but the comfort of knowing that you're not alone, brings them relief. And soon they both signed off, "nighty-night" and they were sound asleep.

Maybe I should create an online book club discussion group for insomniacs?

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

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Comments

[Jan Schaller]

I'm right there with you!! I'm frequently up anywhere between 2 and 4 am with a runaway brain! The insomniacs book discussion group sounds like a grand idea all together!!