Freedom and Intensity at Night

I would just like to make a thread discussing what has been typical with me for as long as I can remember. Also, the nature of this forum being what it is, to see if people here had any sort of 'metaphysical' explanation. In the night, everything seems to come together for me. I have always loved the night, and used to not sleep much as a result. Somehow, it may seem as if I'm just 'getting through' the day, but when night comes...I feel free. It's wonderful. All of my thoughts flow together so smoothly. It feels as if everything comes together. I feel that I begin to understand the significance of things, and I am able to understand the potential of it all. This makes me feel very good. It's like, the way I feel is fundamentally different at night.

Generally this difference is a very good thing. Another general function of this night-time feeling is an intensification of my feelings. This can, occasionally, have a dark side. Say I am feeling depressed, for one reason or another. When the night comes, that gets intensified as well. I will feel so terrible I can hardly bear it. This is quite rare, though. Generally it is very good. So yea, essentially I wanted to see if the people on here had any 'metaphysical' explanation, as well as to see if my experiences are shared by others on here.

reply to post by TheJourney


The pineal gland releases serotonin (I was wrong) melatonin upon nightfall. en.wikipedia.org...

Personally, I don't think the gland holds any metaphysical properties like most around here do, but it is tied directly to night, day and it reacts to light which helps regulate circadian rhythms.

Perhaps serotonin, which regulates learning, mood, sleep etc. may be the cause. (I was wrong)




ETA: I get the same way come nighttime. I am a night owl.

Originally posted by LesMisanthrope
reply to post by TheJourney

 

The pineal gland releases serotonin upon nightfall. en.wikipedia.org...

Personally, I don't think the gland holds any metaphysical properties like most around here do, but it is tied directly to night, day and it reacts to light which helps regulate circadian rhythms.

Perhaps serotonin, which regulates learning, mood, sleep etc. may be the cause.


ETA: I get the same way come nighttime. I am a night owl.

edit on 25-10-2012 by LesMisanthrope because: (no reason given)

Hmm that is interesting. I'm not one who sees a contradiction between 'metaphysics' and things like chemistry, neurology, etc. In fact, I find that learning these things in a scientific context is incredibly elucidating, explaining things with a very high level of specificity. The release of serotonin, which is a very important neurotransmitter in the neuro-sciences, and which is also very similar to el-es-dee(lol), at night is highly interesting to me. And it's released by the pineal gland? Even better! lol. I will want to look into, and ponder, this more, for sure.

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


reply to post by TheJourney


You are so spot on with this. I totally relate. Daytime I feel like I'm just going through the motions on auto-pilot. Night time is when my intellectual ambitions are allowed to be fulfilled.

For me, personally, I have always loved the twilight hour. That perfect mix of light and dark. Ever since I was a child, I would get this amazing rush of euphoria at twilight. My mind will sharpen. There is a clarity of thought. I enjoy to take the canoe on the river, or climb to the top of a large balded hill near my house, and just sit with my thoughts and listen to what the wind and the birds have to say. Often chills will rise up my spine. I Just wanted to let you know I can relate to your observations and I'm glad you shared it. On the flip side I can safely say that I'm probably the worst morning person possible, even though I'm a good sleeper.

I think LesMisanthrope is correct, it makes perfect sense that there would be a biological cause. Very interesting stuff! I'd be interested in more of the science end of it if anyone has any insights to that.

Originally posted by TheJourney

Originally posted by LesMisanthrope
reply to post by TheJourney

 

The pineal gland releases serotonin upon nightfall. en.wikipedia.org...

Personally, I don't think the gland holds any metaphysical properties like most around here do, but it is tied directly to night, day and it reacts to light which helps regulate circadian rhythms.

Perhaps serotonin, which regulates learning, mood, sleep etc. may be the cause.


ETA: I get the same way come nighttime. I am a night owl.

edit on 25-10-2012 by LesMisanthrope because: (no reason given)

Hmm that is interesting. I'm not one who sees a contradiction between 'metaphysics' and things like chemistry, neurology, etc. In fact, I find that learning these things in a scientific context is incredibly elucidating, explaining things with a very high level of specificity. The release of serotonin, which is a very important neurotransmitter in the neuro-sciences, and which is also very similar to el-es-dee(lol), at night is highly interesting to me. And it's released by the pineal gland? Even better! lol. I will want to look into, and ponder, this more, for sure.

edit on 25-10-2012 by TheJourney because: (no reason given)

Sorry. But apparently the Pineal Gland releases Melatonin (not serotonin) during the darker hours:

Melatonin is N-acetyl-5-methoxy-tryptamine, a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan, which also has other functions in the central nervous system. The production of melatonin by the pineal gland is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light.[17] Photosensitive cells in the retina detect light and directly signal the SCN, entraining its rhythm to the 24-hour cycle in nature. Fibers project from the SCN to the paraventricular nuclei (PVN), which relay the circadian signals to the spinal cord and out via the sympathetic system to superior cervical ganglia (SCG), and from there into the pineal gland.

Wikipedia

Obviously I'm not a biologist & I should take a closer look at my own sources.

reply to post by TheJourney


I love the night, when only the animals are awake

I've always felt that maybe it's because most people are asleep and 'unconscious', so there aren't a lot of human thoughts floating around in the air. I'm a believer in humanity possibly sharing a single consciousness.
So if there is a large area around where you are the only one awake, it is magical because the only noise is the noise you create. The inner world opens up for you and you alone.

Being a Concord boy, I want to share Henry Thoreau's thoughts on the night. I think they are beautiful.

I rejoice that there are owls.They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all have. All day the sun has shown on the surface of some savage swamp, where the double spruce stands hung with usnea lichens, and small hawks circulate above, and the chickadee lisps amid the evergreens, and the partridge and rabbit skulk beneath; and now a more dismal and fitting day dawns, and a different race of creatures awakes to express the meaning of Nature there.

-Henry David Thoreau

Going through the high field beyond the lone graveyard, I see the track of a boy’s sled before me, and his footsteps shining like silver between me and the moon. And now I come to where they have coasted in a hollow in this upland bean-field, and there are countless tracks of sleds, and I forget that the sun shone on them in their sport, as if I had reached the region of perpetual twilight, and their sport appears more significant and symbolical now, more earnest. For what a man does abroad by night requires and implies more deliberate energy than what he is encouraged to do in the sunshine. He is more spiritual, less animal or vegetable, in the former case.

The twilight seems out of proportion to the length of the day. The moon is accumulating yellow light and triumphing over the clouds, but still the west is suffused here and there with a slight red tinge, marking the path of the day. Though inexperienced ones might call it night, it is not yet. How sweet and encouraging it is to hear the sound of some artificial music from the midst of woods or from the top of a hill at night, borne on the breeze from some distant farmhouse, the human voice or a flute! That is a civilization one can endure, worth having.

Not much before 10 o'clock does the moonlight night begin. When man is asleep and day fairly forgotten, then is the beauty of moonlight seen over lonely pastures where cattle are silently feeding. Then let me walk in a diversified country, of hill and dale, with heavy woods one side, and scattered trees and bushes, enough to give me shadows. Returning, a mist is on the river. The river is taken into the womb of Nature again. How valuable was some water by moonlight! The water shines with an inward light like a heaven on earth. The silent depth and serenity and majesty of water! Strange that men should distinguish gold and diamonds, when these precious elements are so common. I saw a distant river by moonlight, making no noise, yet flowing, as by day, still to the sea, like melted silver reflecting the moon.

-Henry David Thoreau

reply to post by METACOMET


That was amazing. Thanks for sharing.
I unfortunately have not spent time much outdoors at night, but your post has lit a fire under my lazy backside

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


You're quite right about the melatonin production. However, it was my understanding that increased melatonin production is correlated with drowsiness, which is quite the opposite of the state the original poster described.

. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness

en.wikipedia.org...

probably has to do with feeling more centered and calm during the night. during the day you may be feeling stressed, not very present or mindful? at night, the quiet and calm helps you to find the time in your mind to reflect and be more creative? just a thought....

Originally posted by Captain Reynolds
reply to post by LesMisanthrope

 

You're quite right about the melatonin production. However, it was my understanding that increased melatonin production is correlated with drowsiness, which is quite the opposite of the state the original poster described.

. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness

en.wikipedia.org...

You're right. I confused serotonin with melatonin. However maybe the effect melatonin has on dreams could likely cause a vividness in an awakened state. This is just speculation of course.