Something has me thinking about "Vanilla Sky" today. The title of this entry is a direct quote from the film.
Today I was sitting at home after my work out, eating lunch, and flipping through channels. This is an almost-everyday occurrence. Today was different though. Despite my inner objections, the remote landed on MTV, and ignoring my better judgment I began watching "The Newlyweds". If you enjoy the show, fine...whatever. But today, I started thinking about that show, relating it to a bigger picture. In the US we wonder why our divorce rate is so high-- from my research today on http://www.divorceform.org/rates.html, 43 percent of first marriages end in separation or divorce within 15 years. That is insane, but watching this show, is it any wonder? I know this is probably a sweeping generalization, but I am sure there are people out there that are like...aww, newlyweds...look how cute they are? Jessica and Nick have become a picture of just-marrieds for us to relate to. I do not want to relate to these people. Jessica is an idiot. Nick acts like he's 12. She is co-dependent on him, and he treats her like crap...he talks to her like she is an infant (I know she's not that smart, but she at least deserves to be talked to on a semi-adult level). Basically what we have done (we meaning America) is glorified two twenty-somethings with way too much money and little to no common sense. We could probably stick a camera in a middle school classroom and get more intelligent dialogue, and there would probably even be fewer petty arguments. If "The Newlyweds" is a true portrayal of married life, no thank you. Seriously, could television warp our sense of what true marriage is supposed to be anymore than it already has?! Probably.
So, I have been thinking about this all week. Last semester I remember thinking, man...if I could only get more sleep...blah blah blah. Well, this semester, sleep is not a problem, but too much sleep is. I have been doing research on the subject of too much sleep, and all I can find is that it puts me at a 38% higher risk for heart disease. Nowhere on the web or in books, journals, etc. can I find how too much sleep effects you mentally, but I know it does. Take this example for instance: If people sleep as many hours as they are awake, they are in a dream-like state for the same amount of hours that they are functioning in the realm of reality. At first, this was not a problem. Maybe I hit snooze every once in a while because I was enjoying a certain dream, but after a while I was consciously choosing my dream world over reality...and sometimes the two would get confused. Example: I tutor this guy that's a senior in high school. Driving to the library to meet with him I was thinking about my timesheet and I was like, oh yeah...I already gave it to his mother. No...wait. I have never met his mother. That was in a dream. So, that got me thinking about whether or not this could do any real damage...if your dream world and your reality became so intertwined you were often mistaking one for the other as if they were interchangeable. In order for this to happen on a regular basis, one would have to have approx. 10 hours of sleep a night. It may be worth upping my chance of heart disease in order to experiment with this and possibly write about it. Maybe that is one of the many reasons people that are depressed sleep so much-- they prefer their dream worlds over their immediate realities. Anyway, I have started making myself get up, even if I have nothing to do or nowhere to be, because it was completely and totally messing with my mind. It really is crazy what too much sleep can do to you. If you want to participate in my experiment, let me know. I think what happens to our minds with too much or too little sleep is absolutely intriguing.
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2 comments:
Right on, Melia! And did you know that, because of pressures to get married at an early age (and before they are truly ready), students who get married at ACU and (from what I hear) HSU have a higher rate of divorce than the national average of 50%? The stat that I heard last was that approximately 55-60% of all marriages at ACU end in divorce somewhere in the first 15-20 years of marriage. Amazing, no?!
Hey Melia. Those statistics are crazy, as are Nick and Jessica. You are true in your assessment; their relationship makes me sick. It's incredible to think that two idiots have the right to procreate...it should be banned or something. Anyway, your dream thing sounds interesting. Where do I sign up? As long as it doesn't affect my brain permanently, I am game. We both know added damage would be very, very bad!-- Liz
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