Not only is youth wasted, but also sleep. How about sleeping? I’m writing this at 5am, having woken an hour earlier and reluctantly given up on the prospect of any return to slumber. I have become accustomed to waking up throughout the night.
Urban legend says that the train carrying nukes across London is on its 3am regular run. The foxes croak like tortured children. My yoga teacher tells me to practice the breath that calms the mind. But I just find it boring and go back to my thoughts.
Most of my life I have had the opposite problem – I could scarcely stay awake. I have always conked out (and still do) as soon as my head hits the pillow – often to the infuriation of the person beside me.
Not only is youth wasted, but also sleep. How about sleeping? I’m writing this at 5am, having woken an hour earlier and reluctantly given up on the prospect of any return to slumber [File photo]
Actually, borderline narcoleptic could actually be me. How many meals have I been seated at dinner, up, but still asleep, only to wake up and start uttering nonsequiturs into the conversation. What number of television programs and movies have I snoozed through? Falling asleep is not the issue – it’s staying there.
We’re told poor sleep is a product of getting older. It might even be that we simply don’t need as much. But it doesn’t feel that way.
The fellowship of insomniacs, full of moaning/groaning, is a boring club. Which of these questions helped you to sleep? It’s one of the most tedious questions you could ever ask, yet it is one that I have found to be very useful.
It is not worth reading all the advice you can find about getting good sleep. Don’t sleep with your phone nearby. Don’t look at a screen the hour before bed. That might help if you can’t fall asleep in the first place. But it’s no help when you wake after a couple of hours and your mind is telling you there’s stuff to get on with.
If I was battling serious worries, it would make the situation more understandable. But it’s usually trivial things playing tag in my brain.
This morning it was urgent to get to a garage, pay the parking fees, buy flowers, and remember to call a plumber.
These mundane and infuriating ideas take over, no matter how many times I try to tell them they should wait until daylight. So this morning I decided to concentrate on something more useful: writing this week’s Notebook. So here I am.
Royals are no longer helped by silence
In the first part of the BBC’s The Princes And The Press, Amol Rajan’s exploration of the relationship between Royalty and the media, we learnt remarkably little that anyone with half a brain didn’t already know. Scoop!
Briefings are given by the Royal families to media. Scoop! The media’s attitude to one Royal or another waxes and wanes. The rumours are that tomorrow’s second and final episode will contain far more intrigue.
What the first instalment did demonstrate is that the old maxim of ‘Never complain, never explain’ is now much less effective. Royal Family generally follow the no-comment policy. They let stories and dramas from others swirl about them, while keeping their distance.
Prince Diana led the shift to more direct engagement. She also brokered her own marriage with the Fourth Estate. The media hounded her and was enabled by her – the obsession worked both ways.
In the first part of the BBC’s The Princes And The Press, Amol Rajan’s exploration of the relationship between Royalty and the media, we learnt remarkably little that anyone with half a brain didn’t already know. Scoop!
Now, anyone can speak via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Only question remains: Who is listening?
We listen when it comes to famous people like Prince William and Harry. We listen to both them and the representatives they choose.
Team Sussex had Jenny Afia as their lawyer and Omid Scobie as hacker to contest the accusations made in BBC document.
The action was missing from Team Cambridge. They did not defend themselves. It might be a more dignified way to behave, but I’m not sure it helped in the court of public opinion.
It would be nice if the woke could laugh more
The head teacher of the private girls’ school Benenden says we shouldn’t criticise the young for their ‘woke views’. Their political and social engagement should be supported.
And she’s right. When I think back to my schooldays and realise how little we thought about anything other than Biba and boyfriends, I am impressed by how young people today have their minds on loftier ideas – the environment, sexual mores, mental health. However, the manner they discuss these topics can make it difficult to bear.
Acceptance of conflicting views is not shown. Refusal to engage in discussion. The tendency to label any forum where there is disagreement as ‘unsafe’. They feel rage. This unintelligent attitude is antipathetic for a civilized society. The future is in the hands of young people. They are our future, so we need to be able to listen. They often speak the truth. Their humourless convictions can ruin an otherwise pleasant dinner table conversation.
There is only one moment in life when ignorance can be blissful
In addition to the wonderful news that progesterone is able to prevent miscarriage from women who have experienced early bleeding, it was shocking to find out that one-fourth of pregnancies end in miscarriage.
That high figure must demonstrate that many of us miscarried at a very, very early stage without even knowing it – such ignorance allowing us to escape the misery and despair that accompany the experience.
I’m not going to be a follower of fashion
We are going to House Of Gucci, despite the terrible reviews. What is the point of disregarding warnings that I could be wasting 40 minutes and two hours?
The number of films with rave reviews that I’ve hated led me to realise that ultimately you can rely on no one’s taste but your own.