Earnest jest

Do you remember the best night of sleep you ever had? I do. Three years ago, on a foggy night out in San Francisco, I broke all the rules. I

• Slept over at an unfamiliar apartment
• Well past 2am
• With drinks in my system
• Without blackout curtains, magnesium tablets, temperature control, red light dimming, ideal meal timing, meditation, nothin'
• Just me, a carpet, a random couch pillow, and a throw blanket

The next morning, I blinked open my eyes and noticed a cramp in my jaw and a crick in my neck. Unsurprising, deserved that.

Then I realized I was exploding with energy. Too much energy. I sprang up from my threadbare sleeping arrangements and almost burst into song and dance.

Somehow, the combination of alcohol and sleeping on the ground had locked my jaw into an unnatural underbite, allowing me to breathe normally at night for the first time in years.

So much energy. Needed to get it out. So I ran straight to the gym and proceeded to set personal bests in every exercise by 10-20%. No one at the Dogpatch Touchstone climbing gym had seen a lightning ball whizz around the weight room till that fateful day.

Over the following weeks, I tried to recreate the magic. I slept on my carpet, used different pillow sizes, even tried propped my legs up on a couch - all for nought. That beautiful night of sleep remained out of reach. I still strive for it, three years later.

It's funny, isn't it. Better sleep has been one of the biggest challenges of my life, and I struggle to make the smallest bits of improvement. Then I Sharpie the whiteboard, walk in the bike lane, put my elbows on the dinner table, and life hands me a silver platter filled the lemons I've been seeking.

Anyways, I won't stop striving. But here's to taking life less seriously every now and then.