November 21, 2024
This post is part of my 30in30 challenge, where I write 30 minutes every day for 30 working days. Due to my limited time for this challenge, the content will be only very lightly researched and edited. The idea is to just write. Find my voice, and find the courage to publish. To follow my curiosity wherever it may take me.
Have you ever experienced the time right before you fall asleep when great ideas pop up, only to be forgotten a short time later? What is left is the feeling of excitement, of something great to come, as you drift off to sleep.
This is often called the twilight zone. I find it magical because it tells me that my brain has so much potential; great ideas are in there, almost ready to come out if only I could get a hold of them. Every time this happens to me, I get giddy and excited because I know something great is coming - it's so close that I can almost touch it.
And then, of course, I fall asleep.
Why do great ideas come just before falling asleep?
The official term of this state is hypnagogia. It is the transition between wakefulness and sleep. The brain doesn't just fall asleep; it gradually turns the lights off as different neural processes wind down at varying rates. During this state, it's common to experience visual, audio, or other types of hallucinations.
Research shows that the sleep onset phase is a particularly creative sweet spot. It's not surprising that people throughout the ages have noticed its potential and tried to invoke hypnagogia deliberately to reap its benefits.
Thomas Edison used to sit in a chair holding a steel ball in his hand while resting it over a metal plate or hard surface. As he drifted off to sleep, his muscles would relax, causing the ball to fall and make a noise once it hit the surface. The sound would wake him up, allowing him to capture any creative ideas or insights he experienced during the hypnagogic state. Edison often credited this state for the creative insights and problem-solving breakthroughs he experienced.
The painter Salvador Dalí used a method he called "slumber with a key." He would sit in a chair holding a heavy key between his fingers, with a plate beneath his hand. As he dozed off, the key would fall and hit the plate, waking him up. Dalí believed that this brief dip into the hypnagogic state allowed him to access surreal and dreamlike imagery, which he then incorporated into his art.
You have to admire the ingenuity and creativity of these people! I'm not ready to experiment with hypnagogia just yet, but I do hope to experience it again soon.
Because it truly is magical - a glimpse into my mind's potential and a reminder that creativity often lives in the spaces where consciousness and dreams meet.