3:00 A.M. May Be A Good Time for Reading and Writing

May encourages us to not badger and berate ourselves in the wee hours by trying to force sleep, but instead to use this time for reading, reflection and self-nurturing. She says, “The inky hours are also for writing: the scratch and flow of pen on good paper, the stuttering chains of words that expand to fill pages and pages.” And how “that slightly sleepy, dazed state erodes the barriers of my waking brain...my sensible daytime self, bossy and over-bearing still slumbers.” Perhaps being awake in the early hours has its own magic.

We might as well try it. This lying wide-eyed in bed thinking about my ‘to do list’ has never helped me. Also, I’m often woken up by a poem in my head that feels like I’ve almost channeled it, and I have to write it down, before I can sleep again. My muse seems the most available at that time. If we reframe how we look at being awake in the middle of the night, perhaps our lives and our writing will be richer for it.

-April Stutters