The Nap

Jesus napped in the back of a boat while a storm raged around his frightened disciples. The Quran suggests that all sleep, "by night and by day," is a gift from Allah. Buddha means "awakened one" and he is perhaps the quintessential napper, sleeping wherever he laid down, whenever he was tired; under a tree, in a field, in a potter's shed. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors provided for all their necessities working about four hours daily; the rest of their time was spent napping and relaxing. Therapists claim napping is a legitimate treatment for disorders ranging from insomnia to PTSD. We're hard-wired, it seems, to nap. Whether you do it for pleasure or of necessity, napping is universal. It knows no age or class distinction. When our eyes close and we nod off, we're all the same; just a bunch of sleeping boys and girls. Or are we?

Traditionally men have gone to work, done their jobs, and returned home "done for the day." Women have no such traditional delineation of their time; until recently it could be argued that their "jobs" were just shifting into another mode when the man came home. For men, there was no shame in a nap. Indeed, the ability to fall into guiltless sleep at any hour, in any light, and in almost any venue may be one of man's more charming qualities. I remember my father napping in his big chair while my mother set the dinner table and ensured we wouldn't awaken him. His nap was, in all respects, a sacrosanct ritual we understood that he had "earned".

When my mother napped, she did so in the afternoons when we were in school. Although we rarely "caught" her, the rumpled afghan on the couch and her slightly disheveled appearance on some afternoons left a trail and we'd tease her about sleeping on the job. When we did catch her, there was no concern about waking her; we did so readily with questions about food and events and clean laundry. When napping my father slept the blissful, open-mouthed, snoring sleep of the hunter; my mother slept with the fitful lightness of the caretaker. Even now, her children grown and gone, she awakens to footsteps and refrigerator doors opening. My father could nap through the first stages of Armageddon.

Some say we're most creative and most happy in those hypnagogic moments just as we fall asleep. While the path and progress of our naps may differ from our other-gendered companions, it seems clear the effect is the same. We are happier, better able to learn, and are more aware of the nuances of our surroundings when we are well-rested. Whether we fall into deep sleep or remain semi-vigilant, whether we do so at the end of the day or in the middle of it, in a bed, on a sofa, under a tree or at the symphony, the nap is one of life's pleasures. And the shared nap ... that's one of life's privileges.

Published originally on: utata.org