There once was a man who danced in the streets.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
He didn’t just dance, he made art with his feet.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
. . .
He danced many rhythms that were seldom the same.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
Dance was his passion and it brought him fame.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
from Rap a Tap tap Here’s Bojangles, Think of That!
written and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, 2002
accessed on YouTube 12/27/2020
My new cat Wilson has not adjusted to Standard Time. It’s been almost 2 months. I think he’s on his own time. He doesn’t care about clocks or when the sun rises. He wakes me up between 2:00 and 3:00 every morning for a cuddle. I tell him it’s still night time, but he doesn’t care. After a little while, he goes away, I guess to sleep some more. He calls me to fix his breakfast a couple of hours later.
Frances, my old cat is much more laid back. She sleeps all night, lots of times at the end of our bed, and wakes up when Wilson tells her breakfast is ready.
Just like us, they have their own sleep/wake patterns, times when they would rather play and times when they would rather not. Eating times, cuddle times, relaxing times. Ahh, to be a cat!
Since the Winter Solstice has come and gone, I’m noticing longer days and shorter nights which got me thinking about schedules, patterns, and plans. And circadian rhythms.
Circadian, from the Latin circa + diem, to circle + day, refers to our earthly spin as we orbit the sun each day. Animals and plants, too, have a built-in system to regulate physical and mental activity levels, eating patterns, and sleep/wake cycles. I’m sure plants rest. They nourish themselves. They probably think, too, but that’s a topic for another day.
Our body's temperature and hormone levels are tuned to a cycle. When our bodies are working as they are supposed to, even without a clock, even in a dark space, those functions occur regularly on an approximate 24-hour, internally regulated cycle. Most humans are on a diurnal cycle, awake in the daytime and asleep at night. This is our circadian rhythm.
Our body’s clock (and the clocks in other mammals) is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) located in the hypothalamus. Melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep/wake cycle of our circadian rhythm, is directed by the pineal gland found in the middle of our brains. At the end of the day, our pineal gland releases the hormone driver of our sleep/wake cycle, melatonin. Sleepiness is encouraged in humans by the increase in melatonin. It circulates in the blood all night but gradually decreases until morning. When light enters our eyes, the pineal gland directs the stoppage of melatonin, and we wake up.
If the SCN is damaged or compromised, the result is the absence or disruption of a regular sleep/wake rhythm.
And although the sleep/wake cycle in our circadian rhythm is the most commonly known, circadian rhythms regulate our how aware we are, our reaction times, blood pressure, and body temperature. We are also tuned to other less-known but no less important rhythms.
Ultradian rhythms cycle more than once in a day. Hunger is an example.
Infradian rhythms take more than 24 hours to cycle. Menstrual cycles, hibernation, and migration are examples.
Recurring patterns, plans, and schedules are all important. Lots of that seems to be either missing or hard to find in our pandemic days of seclusion and social distancing. The other day I heard the word Blursday to describe the days of the week, all kinda the same. Sounds about right to me.
So how do we get from Blursday to the regular seven? That’s a problem I’ve been wrestling with for several years. My natural propensity to procrastinate coupled with the lure of an interesting rabbit hole or two, get me to the end of many days asking myself, What did I even do all day?
While lots of my plans and schedules find the nearest window and escape into the ether or biosphere or just disintegrate, I think lists will help me keep a little control.
Being in love with words, I really do love the sound of Blursday, I just don’t like the feel of it!
-—stay curious! (and make a list or two)
Notes:
https://kids.kiddle.co/Circadian_rhythm
https://www.endocrineweb.com/endocrinology/overview-pineal-gland
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
He didn’t just dance, he made art with his feet.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
. . .
He danced many rhythms that were seldom the same.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
Dance was his passion and it brought him fame.
Rap-a-tap-tap—think of that!
from Rap a Tap tap Here’s Bojangles, Think of That!
written and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
Blue Sky Press/Scholastic, 2002
accessed on YouTube 12/27/2020
My new cat Wilson has not adjusted to Standard Time. It’s been almost 2 months. I think he’s on his own time. He doesn’t care about clocks or when the sun rises. He wakes me up between 2:00 and 3:00 every morning for a cuddle. I tell him it’s still night time, but he doesn’t care. After a little while, he goes away, I guess to sleep some more. He calls me to fix his breakfast a couple of hours later.
Frances, my old cat is much more laid back. She sleeps all night, lots of times at the end of our bed, and wakes up when Wilson tells her breakfast is ready.
Just like us, they have their own sleep/wake patterns, times when they would rather play and times when they would rather not. Eating times, cuddle times, relaxing times. Ahh, to be a cat!
Since the Winter Solstice has come and gone, I’m noticing longer days and shorter nights which got me thinking about schedules, patterns, and plans. And circadian rhythms.
Circadian, from the Latin circa + diem, to circle + day, refers to our earthly spin as we orbit the sun each day. Animals and plants, too, have a built-in system to regulate physical and mental activity levels, eating patterns, and sleep/wake cycles. I’m sure plants rest. They nourish themselves. They probably think, too, but that’s a topic for another day.
Our body's temperature and hormone levels are tuned to a cycle. When our bodies are working as they are supposed to, even without a clock, even in a dark space, those functions occur regularly on an approximate 24-hour, internally regulated cycle. Most humans are on a diurnal cycle, awake in the daytime and asleep at night. This is our circadian rhythm.
Our body’s clock (and the clocks in other mammals) is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) located in the hypothalamus. Melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep/wake cycle of our circadian rhythm, is directed by the pineal gland found in the middle of our brains. At the end of the day, our pineal gland releases the hormone driver of our sleep/wake cycle, melatonin. Sleepiness is encouraged in humans by the increase in melatonin. It circulates in the blood all night but gradually decreases until morning. When light enters our eyes, the pineal gland directs the stoppage of melatonin, and we wake up.
If the SCN is damaged or compromised, the result is the absence or disruption of a regular sleep/wake rhythm.
And although the sleep/wake cycle in our circadian rhythm is the most commonly known, circadian rhythms regulate our how aware we are, our reaction times, blood pressure, and body temperature. We are also tuned to other less-known but no less important rhythms.
Ultradian rhythms cycle more than once in a day. Hunger is an example.
Infradian rhythms take more than 24 hours to cycle. Menstrual cycles, hibernation, and migration are examples.
Recurring patterns, plans, and schedules are all important. Lots of that seems to be either missing or hard to find in our pandemic days of seclusion and social distancing. The other day I heard the word Blursday to describe the days of the week, all kinda the same. Sounds about right to me.
So how do we get from Blursday to the regular seven? That’s a problem I’ve been wrestling with for several years. My natural propensity to procrastinate coupled with the lure of an interesting rabbit hole or two, get me to the end of many days asking myself, What did I even do all day?
While lots of my plans and schedules find the nearest window and escape into the ether or biosphere or just disintegrate, I think lists will help me keep a little control.
Being in love with words, I really do love the sound of Blursday, I just don’t like the feel of it!
-—stay curious! (and make a list or two)
Notes:
https://kids.kiddle.co/Circadian_rhythm
https://www.endocrineweb.com/endocrinology/overview-pineal-gland
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