(Night Time Is) The Right Time

In the words of genius Ray Charles, “the night time is the right time to be with the ones you love.” Ray, m’boy, you’ve done it again. The significance of this statement is made clear as I prepare to say goodbye to friends and family. Indeed, the procession of goodbye dinners and events has already begun. As I weigh the magnitude of these life changes rushing up at me, it occurs to me that these changes have more weight at night. What I mean is this:

When I get up in the morning, the day is full of promise. I’m enjoying my temporary retirement and my moments of lethargy. Dara and I are having a great time together and I’m in a good mood. But once the sun goes down, the weight of my decisions unravels before me and I get sad. I think about my family and about Dara, both of whom I’m going to miss like crazy. I think about the most efficient way to spend my time here with friends and family, although I ultimately fail at this each day. Put simply, the morning is pregnant with opportunity and promise, by nightfall I’m sad, scared and depressed.

Dara speculates that this may be because at night, I’m left with my own thoughts. I agree that this is part of it. The world is asleep and you’re left to think about those sleeping in it. I think there’s more to it than that, and I leave it upon my faithful readers (all three of you) to comment about why this might happen.

I don’t want to be melodramatic, here. I did that enough in my teens and I groan every time I read old journal entries grasping towards imagined eloquence, dramatizing the most trivial of events. My upcoming move isn’t trivial, certainly, but it needn’t be the guilt-ridden, stressful event that the evening makes it. In conclusion, I’m going to start going to bed at 5:00.