On January 16, 2020, I offered some thoughts on how I try to go back to sleep when I wake up at 3:00 in the morning (unclench hands, deep breathing, the lazy face and don’t bend the ears). On June 16, 2021, I added another dimension that – over the years – I have found very helpful in getting back to sleep. Phosphenes. The little electrical picture show that the eyes see when the world is dark. It was once called the “prisoner’s cinema” given that in solitary confinement, phosphenes would still be present. Blind people will sometimes rub their eyes to stimulate phosphenes.

Let me toss another idea into the ring — the cool side of the pillow. When I wake up in the middle of the night, my pillow is warm. And somewhat collapsed. And so, I will often reach back – give the pillow a fluff – and drop it down with a different (and cool) side. Ahhhhhh. . . . .

I frankly thought that my idea – “the cool side of the pillow” – was unique. That I was amazingly perceptive. Wise. Learned. Sagacious. And that in the history of the world, no one had ever come up with this idea – much less the term. Sorry Socrates. . . . . I Googled the expression and learned that many others have palavered about the “cool side of the pillow.” There’s even a song of this title by Kyle Dion.