no sleep for the thoughtful

You've heard someone say, "I think best when I'm in the shower," right?

Or, "I do my best thinking when I'm running."

Orrr, "My head is clearest when I'm riding my bike."  

"When I'm swimming."  

"When I'm cooking."

Well, would you like to know when my best thinking is done?

As I'm falling asleep.

And I can't tell you how many superb blogs or papers or books I've written in my head that I can't remember now that I'm more fully awake.

It has occurred to me that maybe they aren't actually such great ideas - that I just think they are because I'm half asleep.  But, on the other hand, the times that I do remember them, they actually were pretty good ideas. [Judging by my own standards at least.  And that isn't saying much.]

Maybe I should just keep a pad of paper and a pencil nearby so that I can jot down whatever ideas I'm magically generating in my half-asleep, half-awake state.  But I value my sleep so much that this particular idea doesn't seem overwhelmingly appealing.  Because then I would wake myself up even further, and who knows?  It could become some horrible cycle where I start to fall asleep, have an inspirational idea, wake up enough to write down said idea, and then the wonderful/awful cycle starts all over again and I never fall asleep.

I should take the fact that this post is only semi-coherent as a sign that I would be completely lucid in my half-asleep state.

[Or maybe I should just remember that logic has never been my strong suit.]

When do you do your best thinking?

p.s.  Didn't you just love having Camille guest post yesterday?  She's a doll.

p.p.s.  Don't forget to read my secret here.