I decided awhile ago to just go with it most nights (unless life's demands demand that I take a pill), instead of fighting it with over-the-counter drugs that make me feel lousy in the morning, and that (this is totally unsubstantiated) I suspect of making my dreams more unpleasant.
Insomnia advice often agrees with this. If you can't sleep, just quit lying there in frustrated knots and do something till you're sleepy.
Reading is one of the best things for occupying a sleepless mind without pumping me up and making the mental hamster-wheel worse.
But I'm finding that not every book that I generally enjoy is right for this time of the night.
Your feelings may differ, but I would call craft and project idea books a no-no. They are more likely to get me pumped up to take an idea get started on a project, than to lull me to sleep. But if your mind works differently and finds that an idea to implement tomorrow helps you sleep, they might work for you.
I love mysteries, but they tend to gear my brain up. I love historical novels, but some are depictions of the worst of human history. Those will aggravate the hell out of me when I'm already restless, with wishing people hadn't been so violent, so power-mad, so shortsighted and that we'd show more signs of learning from the past.
What works, then?
It will be different for everyone, but here's what I've discovered:
1. A booklight. I read in the dark with a booklight, EVEN if I don't need to - even if I'm out in the living room and a lamp would not disturb my husband. The surrounding dark keeps me from shifting into daytime mode and I'm more likely to get drowsy after awhile.
2. Vintage children's books that soothed me as a kid. The Secret Garden (that's my childhood copy, above), despite its tragic beginning, is about finding that serene place and letting it heal you, and it makes a great book to revisit in a small circle of reading light in the dark. That's just one example - there are lots of them, from Little House to Daddy-Long-Legs.
3. Gentle, nostalgic humor. The Peanuts comic strips that I read and re-read as a kid return me to that safe happy time in my life. BUT I stay away from biting, dysfunctional humor like Dilbert (which I love as a daytime read), and from anything political. Dilbert takes me back to the total frustration of the workplace I used to inhabit, and even politics I agree with send me into that stressed feeling about the state of the world.
4. Comfort Classics. This will really vary from person to person, but here's what calms me down, and why:
Jane Austen. Emma is a delightful book, but takes concentration. That's good. In the middle of the night, I have the quiet around me to let me apply my mind to it. I avoided this novel for years, until I made it an insomnia book, and found that the whole process of concentrating on it stopped the noise in my mind, and the novel was funny and warm while it did so.
Robinson Crusoe. One of my favorite books of all time. Adventure is generally a bad idea, when it comes to sleep-aid books. But most of Robinson Crusoe is a quiet journey of solitude and slow building. Like being alone in the dark, Crusoe spends his time learning what matters and what he values, learning how to best use resources, and, most importantly, learning that the long hours alone are NOT useless time, but time when seeds are growing, and the future is building itself between human plantings and prunings and harvestings. It's OK for nothing to seem to be happening. It's OK to be alone with one's thoughts. And it's OK for a store of grains and goods to grow at a natural pace, not all at once. Crusoe's life is about making that happen over many years, not about having it in place all at once and then sitting and wondering Now what do I do with my life?
5. Poetry. This one is impossible to make suggestions for, since different poets and types of poetry will speak to different people. Classic poetry anthologies are good for me. So are Denise Levertov's The Stream and the Sapphire, and Mary Oliver's prose and poems, which often bring me serenity.
6. Certain psalms. I like the psalms in general, but many are cries of terrible pain and might not help with sleeplessness. This varies from person to person, and some people might find that the psalms of cries to God really help during difficult life issues. They certainly help me feel less alone, like others have made it through their own hard times with honest surrender to their need for help. I prefer peaceful ones like the 23rd, for insomnia help. I bookmark favorites to turn right to, in the middle of the night.
7. Nature and science. Now here's a category that you've really gotta personalize. If there's some aspect of science and nature that fills you with serenity, a sleepless night is a great time to visit it. Pictures of mountains? Herbs and flowers? The vastness of the cosmos?
I love glaciers. Where ice takes on a life of its own, where time slows to a crawl. The same photos that might make you feel cold and stressed, make me feel calm. You may prefer volumes on landscape gardens or penguins or wildflowers. Find what works!
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