The Decadence of a Delicious Doze

This post comes on the heels of a nap day. That’s right, I had a mid-morning nap and it sort of turned into an all-day affair. I woke up, got dressed and had breakfast out. When I returned home, the snooze button went off inside me and I thought, “Why not take a nap this morning instead of waiting until this afternoon?” Here I sit, at the end of the day, having napped on and off for several hours. My initial reaction is to apologize and feel ashamed for having wasted the bright sunshine, should-be-outdoors part of the day. I’m not going to apologize, however, as it affected no one except me. I did it, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly!

Phillip Roth did it right too: “Let me tell you about the nap,” he says laughingly. “It’s absolutely fantastic. When I was a kid, my father was always trying to tell me about how to be a man, and he said to me, I was maybe nine, ‘Philip, whenever you take a nap, take your clothes off, put a blanket on you, and you’re going to sleep better.’ Well, as with everything, he was right…. Then the best part of it is, when you wake up, for the first 15 seconds, you have no idea where you are. You’re alive! Being alive and hopefully rested is all you know. And it’s bliss, it’s absolute bliss.”

As a youngster …

Afternoon naps were a pleasant memory of my childhood when I was 8 and 9. Most young kids wouldn’t agree napping was something they wanted to interrupt afternoon play for. These kids would whine and resist going down for a snooze mid-afternoon, which provided a huge break for their stay-at-home moms.

I’m not even sure if kids that age still take naps these days.

Anyway, I recall the feel of the bumpy chenille against my cheek as I was lulled to sleep by the outdoor sounds. Every day at 3 pm a plane flew over sort of low and slow, probably to land at a nearby airport, and the rumblings of this big plane filled my body. I would fall asleep right after that plane made its overhead path.

As an adult …

The familiarity of the airplane sound and reverberation has remained in my psyche. A vision of my youthful napping experience was immediately triggered when I heard that same sound mid-afternoon while in my apartment on the opposite side of the country in a very different situation. Again, I live near a small airport but I hardly ever hear any air traffic, no traffic except every weekday at 3 pm when what sounds like a large plane flies low and slow into a landing path creating the same rumblings within me. It made me smile the first time I heard this. I was back there in my bed as a child, with the feel of the chenille against my face.

I’ve since learned the term neuromodulation which is a sound that creates a natural biological response within our body. It is used to treat and enhance quality of life in individuals who suffer severe chronic illness due to persistent pain, and other auditory or specific psychiatric disorders. Neuromodulation makes sense for me having the airplane noise reaction from my childhood that I had.

Is a Day of Dozing Good or Bad?

What’s the big deal about taking the whole day to laze around and nap every once in a while? I used to think the only way I could sink into the sweet oblivion of such a decadent activity was by being overly tired or sick. Not anymore. I think I’ve found a wonderful way to treat myself to an activity that isn’t high calorie or expensive or bothers anyone else. It’s not something everyone would enjoy doing even infrequently. That’s okay. To each his/her own.

If you do give it a try, let me know what you think.