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Abstract

te (whatever definition that is), my imagination takes a massive shift — careening from creativity to anxiety and worrying about all the worst-case what-if scenarios.Is that why the most creative souls also seem to be the most tortured?Would Picasso have doom-scrolled like I have on medical potential diagnoses on Google based on a random stomach pain? Would Einstein have decided (like I did) that midnight is the optimal time to see if there’s any hope your puppy can beat separation anxiety and you can one day leave the house without them (and then agonize over whether that answer is “no”)?After all, late night is always the witching hour. It’s inevitably when kids get sick and dogs throw up. As moms always say, nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m., right?<h2 id="0f38">Well, sometimes good things happen to those who are up late</h2>Thirty minutes ago I was exhausted. But in the cozy comfort of my bed, the electric blanket on “high,” I’m typing furiously in note after new note. I’m as inspired in the late nights as I was uninspired when faced with the same blank note a few hours ago.What spark was sparked? And why can’t

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I harness it during normal business hours?I may never know that answer, no matter how hard I Google. No matter how many Tiks I Tok.But I’m grateful for those ideas, whenever they’ll come. I’ll continue writing down my ideas, typing as my husband and puppy gently snore beside me. Excited at the pace at which the words flow. Thrilled by the wealth of topics.But the bigger task at hand is learning how to quiet the mind before I type myself into worry.Here’s hoping the TikTok algorithm gods are in my favor tonight. Funny videos versus catastrophic. Lightness instead of dark. Motivation instead of paralysis.Then when the sun rises, we’ll do it all again. But better. With more purpose and less worry.See you there. . .<a href="https://medium.com/@FourBirds">Julia Byrd</a> is a <a href="http://www.essay-coach.com/">college admission essay writing coach</a> who also <a href="http://www.fourbirds.net/">writes for her personal website</a>. Julia’s got a soft spot for the apostrophe, because, in the words of Imagine Dragons, it’s “a symbol to remind you that there’s more to see.”</article></body>

Walking Nighttime’s Fine Line of Creativity and Anxiety

Is anyone else up late reading this?

Is this what you look like when you go to bed? It sure isn’t me / Author’s photo.

Do you ever lie awake at night caught between two worlds?

I don’t mean straddling the line between dreaming and wakefulness, but the other two worlds that (to me) feel like two sides of the same coin: Creativity and worry.

Nighttime is when my imagination runs wild, for better or for worse.

It seems the key is to not get to the tipping point — to harness a spiraling mind before it gets out of control.

It’s not something I’ve excelled at

If I stay up a little late, I find myself inspired by writing topics (much like I am now), exploding like popcorn kernels in my drowsy mind. I furiously type on my Notes app, not willing to rely on my memory for these ideas to be clear tomorrow.

But if I cross the threshold and stay up too late (whatever definition that is), my imagination takes a massive shift — careening from creativity to anxiety and worrying about all the worst-case what-if scenarios.

Is that why the most creative souls also seem to be the most tortured?

Would Picasso have doom-scrolled like I have on medical potential diagnoses on Google based on a random stomach pain? Would Einstein have decided (like I did) that midnight is the optimal time to see if there’s any hope your puppy can beat separation anxiety and you can one day leave the house without them (and then agonize over whether that answer is “no”)?

After all, late night is always the witching hour. It’s inevitably when kids get sick and dogs throw up. As moms always say, nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m., right?

Well, sometimes good things happen to those who are up late

Thirty minutes ago I was exhausted. But in the cozy comfort of my bed, the electric blanket on “high,” I’m typing furiously in note after new note. I’m as inspired in the late nights as I was uninspired when faced with the same blank note a few hours ago.

What spark was sparked? And why can’t I harness it during normal business hours?

I may never know that answer, no matter how hard I Google. No matter how many Tiks I Tok.

But I’m grateful for those ideas, whenever they’ll come. I’ll continue writing down my ideas, typing as my husband and puppy gently snore beside me. Excited at the pace at which the words flow. Thrilled by the wealth of topics.

But the bigger task at hand is learning how to quiet the mind before I type myself into worry.

Here’s hoping the TikTok algorithm gods are in my favor tonight. Funny videos versus catastrophic. Lightness instead of dark. Motivation instead of paralysis.

Then when the sun rises, we’ll do it all again. But better. With more purpose and less worry.

See you there. . .

Julia Byrd is a college admission essay writing coach who also writes for her personal website. Julia’s got a soft spot for the apostrophe, because, in the words of Imagine Dragons, it’s “a symbol to remind you that there’s more to see.”