A lot of creative types have insomnia. It’s next to impossible to turn off the constant barrage of information churning through our brains at night. We can utilize the most precise sleep hygiene, take melatonin, meditate, use all the tricks, and we still wind up staring at the ceiling at 4 AM while our brains merrily gambol about with memories, ideas, plans, plots, dialogue, etc.

Mine started in grammar school, if I remember correctly, and pretty much runs to this day. I’ve learned how to cycle through various supplements in order to wear my brain down long enough for it to shut up, but any sort of stress tends to short-circuit that process. And like most of us, I’ve been under a lot of stress for years.

That’s not good for a lot of things. It impacts my health, my writing, and my general joy in life. And yes, the knee replacement fixed a large chunk of physical pain that’s been keeping me up, but other body parts decided to pick up the slack. I think what I’m trying to say here is that if I’ve been terse for the last couple of years or so, it’s because I don’t sleep much these days.

If you’re going through this as well, be kind with yourself. You’re not alone, and thinking that you’re a slacker or beating yourself up because you’re not getting everything done that you wanted to accomplish isn’t going to help anything and, frankly, isn’t deserved.