An Idea For Insomniacs.

It’s no secret that I have trouble sleeping. Just last night I was up until after 5am. This is a frequent occurrence. Despite the many different medications I take that apparently make you drowsy, it’s rare that I get an uninterrupted night or even close my eyes until gone 3am. Reasons range from racing thoughts, ruminating on things from forever ago that cannot be changed, to me just not being tired. I’ve tried breathing techniques, no caffeine, baths, lavender oil and all of the so – called ‘Sleep Hygiene’ tips and tricks given to me in therapy and from various people from the mental health team in my region. Nothing works.

But………I think I may have found something that will help. Especially with the racing thoughts.

It’s called Can’t Sleep Write Now a nocturnal journal for tireless thinkers. I will link some places to buy this at the end of my post but first I would like to talk a little bit about it.

This is made by ‘Chronicle Books’ and is a hard backed book. It has a satin ribbon bookmark attached to it to keep your place. Before you get to the journal aspect of this book, there is a small introduction which tells you a little about the how day and night affect our thoughts. Peppered through the book you will find quotes about the power of night time. My favourite is one by Marie De Rabutin-Chantal – “There are twelve hours in the day and above fifty in the night”. It certainly can feel that way when you can’t sleep.

The description of this book says that this guided journal turns sleepless nights into a source of inspiration and features dozens of provocative creative writing prompts. Skimming through my copy I can see prompts ranging from a simple ‘why can’t you sleep?’ to ‘write your own operating instructions’ and ‘write the shortest story ever written’. There are also some pages with no prompts, leaving you free to write down whatever you are thinking that particular night. Of course you are not bound to fill out the pages in any particular order. If you wish to you may search to find something that captures your interest or you could flick to a random page and dive in there.

As a self confessed over thinker, I have my fingers crossed that this will both help to empty my mind of racing thoughts  and also give me something interesting to look back on when it is completed. I don’t know about you but as it gets later my thoughts get stranger!

If any of you decide to try this do let me know how you get on. I hope you’ve all had a very merry Christmas ❤

I bought my copy for £7.69 from HERE (Amazon UK)
If you are in the USA you can get it HERE (Amazon US)
And The Wordery has it too with the bonus of free international shipping!