Senior accounting and finance major
Sleep. Delightful, delightful sleep. How we miss you.
There are just a few days left until spring break. You can almost taste it (partly because by now, at least some of your friends probably have left). We’re so close and yet so far. These past few days — the few moments that stand between us and a badly needed respite — are some of the most challenging of the school year. No professor wants to have a major assignment due right after spring break, so everything is due this week. Every day brings another exam, paper, presentation, discussion, worksheet, lab practical or other meaningless task — if not several. And thus, this last week before break does exactly what it should: It reminds us just how badly we need a break.
And, more importantly, just how badly we need sleep.
Sleep is life’s greatest joy. It’s a period in which nothing needs to be done, no effort needs to be expended and everything is nice and quiet. The body heals, rests and re-energizes, and the mind does the same. Sleep can take even the most tired and broken of bodies, minds and spirits and make them whole.
Sleep is also (usually) easy. There’s no effort involved; you close your eyes and stay still for a bit, and your body does the rest for you. We’ve spent our entire lives practicing, training ourselves to become masters of sleep; if sleep were an Olympic sport, we could all be gold medal contenders. And for those to whom sleep doesn’t come as easy (like myself, unfortunately), when finally we do reach our goal — our grand sweet victory that is a good night’s sleep — it almost feels like we really have earned that Olympic medal. We fought hard and struggled through whatever held us back to earn the greatest prize of all: a peaceful rest.
And let us not forget how fantastic dreams are. Pleasant or nightmarish, dreams are personal Netflix for the low cost of $0 a month! They let us see things we would only imagine in our wildest dreams, as could be expected. They’re the only way we can be king of the world, an octopus or nestled in Cthulhu’s armpit hairs without having to expend effort. And did I mention they’re free?
Finally, sleep is one of the best times to be around friends. If you can avoid the mood killers that are snoring, sleep talking, sleepwalking, sleep apnea and bed wetting, napping with a friend is one of the most peaceful things you can do. Something is especially comforting knowing you and your loved ones are at peace together, in the same place, without a care in the world. It’s sheer bliss.
Sleep is the most wonderful of human experiences, and though we may be without it for now in this longest of weeks, we will have it again soon — and it will be better than we can imagine. Until then, we will think of it, dream of it, yearn for it. And hopefully take a nap here and there to keep us alive and functioning.
Ezra Fishman is a senior accounting and finance major. He can be reached at efishmandbk@gmail.com.
