Transition

 About the blog

   There's a point of transition we pass through when falling asleep each night and waking up each morning.  It exists only in each of our minds - nowhere else - making it 100% subjective.  And that's the only measurable value to be had.

   What happens during this (at least) twice daily transition?

   There's a couple ways to describe it and each is roughly equivalent:

• The conscious and unconscious parts of the mind switch places.
• The conscious and unconscious parts of the mind swap roles.

   There's more about this in the post Lucid.

   Assuming you also sleep from time to time you might have memories of where the transition begins.

   How can someone tell the difference between those and any other memory?

   Well, were you ever falling asleep and when just about to go out like a light:

• Sounds or speech suddenly increased in perceived loudness or became audible that weren't before:
• Dishes or silverware clanking suddenly sounded like bombs dropped
• Normal sounding speech suddenly sounded like yelling and shouting
• Smells or scents suddenly increased in perceived intensity

   Something strange happens at the point awake turns to sleep and vice versa.

   There's also instances were it seems like the transition point gets skipped over.  In the morning that can be called "getting up on the wrong side of the bed".  Luckily for us the effect is temporary and we don't have to continue living and working with someone in that state forever.  It's strange that a loss of empathy and focus on self is what quickly is most apparent when it happens.

   When we're young, some of the most terrifying nightmares possible seem to originate from a similar place.  Those dreams are both terrifyingly real and horribly dream like at the same time.

   You might even recall a few of those from your own childhood.

   So it's probably not a bad thing we don't linger between awake and sleep.

   Anyone claiming otherwise must enjoy nightmares.

   Recently I started wondering what it might be like if someone became stuck during this transition.