2.18.2008

Thoreau's Journal: 18-Feb-1841

Sometimes I find that I have frequented a higher society during sleep, and my thoughts and actions proceed on a higher level in the morning.

13 comments:

Deborah Liss-Green said...

How many times have I woken up with the germ of a story, solution to a problem on the edge of my consciousness...only to let the day begin and I watch it slip back where it came from?

Anonymous said...

Is he trying to make the point that human minds are at best when they are resting and unconscious? If he is, i agree with him. Dreams and night time thoughts are so much more developed than we will ever know, as our minds begin to race as our bodies rest.

zlee said...

I don't think that I have ever woken up feeling like a smarter person. I am not a moring person. When I first wake up, most of the time I cannot form a full sentence.

JButlerS said...

During sleep the mind is revitalized and the following day becomes much easier. The well rested mind makes for a much more highly capable thought process.

Erin Johnson said...

Often after a good nights sleep, I feel much smarter and happier the next day. I am anxious to start my day and I often wonder what new opportunities might come my way.

haley said...

his dreams give him optimism, hope and something to work towards.

Number Thirteen said...

I have woken many times in the morning feeling rejuvenated. With each new morning comes new mercies and an awakened mind. It's amazing how the worries of the night before can just dissolve as the sun rises before us. Perhaps we don't immediately feel the effects of sleep, but within a few hours that morning, our minds are much keener.

ariel maschke said...

I agree with Butler on this one. Sleep allows a person to regain lost energy from the preceding day. A good night of sleep usually means a person can focus more the following day. I also think sleep allows people to unconsciously deal with all the issues going on in their lives. It is like therapy that you aren't aware you are going through, if that makes sense.

Katie said...

It makes sense for the state of dreaming to give the mind a chance to work out some sort of complicated problem otherwise unsolvable because with the body at rest the subconscious can figure out the solutions to pressing matters. Though I doubt that I'll wake up one morning with the solution to global warming, getting a good night's rest ensures that at least my mind will be able to function better.

Akshat said...

This happens to me all of the time. i think of something important at night that i need to do. I wake up and do not remember a thing from my thought last night. I also work better in the morning than at night. i am able to concentrate easier and for longer periods of time. I feel as if i am thinking at a "higher level" in the mornings.

Zach Singletary said...

The reality of the day does not kick in till about 10 so i knew exactly what he is feeling. Morning time for me is a lot of fog with me just trying to remember what i need to do that day and by the time i think of everything i usually feel worse.

annaladson said...

I agree, sleep allows the brain and body to rest, meaning a rested mind is a better thinking mind.

Ali Rocco said...

I, like many young adults, underestimate the power of a good nights sleep. I thoroughly enjoy the feeling of waking fresh from a good nights sleep.