In the early 19th century, the executioner's gallows were removed from the Northeast corner of London's famous Hyde Park. The public, however, continued to visit Hyde Park--no longer for its gallows, but instead to have a forum for free speech. In 1855, for example, shopkeepers gathered in the Northeast corner of the park to protest the newly passed law which forbade businesses to operate on Sunday. Other public rallies followed, and in 1872 the Northeast corner of Hyde Park was officially designated as a site for public meetings. Since 1872, political enthusiasts, religious missionaries, radical thinkers, drunks, leftists, rightists, and everyone in between is invited to stand on their own "Soap Box" to offer their opinion.

The soap box enthusiasts have included revolutionary thinkers such as Karl Marx, George Bernard Shaw, George Orwel, and even V.I. Lenin. Each speaker is typically given three minutes to develop their theme, someone then shouts "Liar!" and then the fun begins. The soapbox speaker is then subject to the often-outlandish comments of his listeners until someone else spins off their own idea and takes control of the proverbial Box of Soap.

And herein is born Steve's Box of Soap. While many blogs address a very specific topic, this blog is limitless in scope, just as the SoapBoxes of the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. Steve's Box of Soap will hopefully be funny, insightful, random, goofy, and interesting. Most importantly, Steve's Box of Soap will be insight into what I would be saying if I were standing on a Box of Soap in Hyde Park's Speakers Corner.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sleep and the lack thereof...

4:19 AM - I woke up to my phone vibrating, reached over to grab it, and wondered who on Earth was texting me at 4 AM! Sure enough, it was my buddy in New York...it's not 4 AM for him! He shoulda thought of that before he texted me, how inconsiderate! :) Or, better yet, I should have turned my phone off before going to bed.
After spending a solid 1 1/2 hours blog stalking a bunch of my friends/family/people I don't even know but who have awesome blogs, I've decided that what better time to post to my own, somewhat scant blog, than the wee hours of the morning when I have nothing better to do.
Nothing better to do? Really? What about, oh, sleep, you ask? Well, you see, I've been thinking about this whole "sleep" business recently. Did you know that scientists and doctors, even today, in 2010, don't really know a whole lot about why it is that we sleep? What goes on during these hours amongst the neurons of our brains, and why is it that our bodies need sleep? We know that there are different brain waves conduct in our brains while in different stages of sleep, but what is it about sleep that makes us "tired" if we go without?
For example. It's 5:50 AM and I've been awake since 4 AM when I received that $&#% text from my buddy in New York. I woke up, read his text, and then suddenly, within about 30 seconds, I knew I was doomed to a day of lethargy, exhaustion, and difficulty focusing while in class. I have learned that for me, 7 hours is the minimum I need to have enough energy (physical, mental, emotional) to be alert, awake, and productive throughout the day. And, seeing that I went to bed at midnight, those precious 4 hours just won't suffice. So, why don't I just roll over and go back to sleep? Well, you see, in my recent considerations of the importance of sleep, I have realized that I think that because so much of my day is spent learning, focusing, reading, memorizing, and so on, that the "resting" level for me is higher right now than at other times in my life when I wasn't in school and was just working, on the mission, etc etc. It's almost like, even when resting, that I am still thinking. When I do wake up, it's almost like my brain is on the starting blocks of a sprint, just waiting, anticipating the sound of the gun-shot, signalling the beginning of the race, so that as soon as I am "awake," I have a hard time getting back to bed because, even when asleep, I am still thinking, and that all it takes is the smallest thing to wake me up, and I'm off to the races.
Recently I've had some really interesting dreams, most of which I have been surprised at how clearly I have remembered them. For example, last week in school we were learning about antibiotic drugs, their names, how they work in the body, what diseases they treat, what other drugs not to take them with, their side effects, and so on. When I woke up in the morning, it was like I had been studying all night, because I dreamed about antibiotic drugs. No, in my dream I wasn't being chased by little tylenol pills through the small intestine trying to avoid absorption into the bloodstream, but instead I dreamed about all the facts that I had been learning in school. Needless to say, it was not a very restful sleep.
This past week, I had a dream in which my high school rugby coach, LG, was with several of us past players, and he asked us "Did you go to the temple today?" It was as if I was right there, listening to one of his coaching sermons in which he was teaching us one of life's lessons. He wasn't asking if we literally had gone to the temple, but was rhetorically asking if each of us had personally gone to our temple, our personal temple during the day. Had our thoughts, actions, intentions been those that would help us be in the temple? Did we take time during the day to stop for a moment and have a moment to ourselves to reflect upon our lives be it through prayer, scripture study, or just personal reflection? I felt so uplifted and inspired by my dream that I woke up and wrote it all down. Once again, however, I couldn't fall back asleep and felt tired the next day.
Anyway, maybe someday we'll learn more about what happens physiologically while we sleep, why we have certain dreams, and, possibly more importantly, the interaction that takes place between the physical and the spiritual. We know, that during the creation, the seventh day was a day of rest. Did God sleep on that day of rest? Did he sleep on days 1-6 or just on day 7? If he did sleep, why was it that he needed sleep?
Those are a few of my thoughts on this early start to a busy day. I'm happy to be back in the blogging world. Feel free to leave your complaints, corrections, or any other comments. And if you are currently blog stalking, go ahead and comment!
Why? Because that's the way we do things on Steve's Box of Soap.
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