You Snooze, You Win.

I like to sleep.

Every single night when I go to bed — or more accurately, when I set my morning alarm, put down my phone and finally decide to sleep after being in bed for hours — I come to what’s one of my favourite moments in my day. Which as it so happens, lasts for barely a minute. And it’s not the sleep itself.

I named it (for the purpose of this article) the bed appreciation moment.

Here we go: I usually sleep with two pillows. Sometimes more, but never less. Now, my bed at my parents’ house has two amazing but very different pillows. One is a straightforward, lean pillow that feels sturdy and reliable; while the other is a fat, fluffy pillow that feels like a soft rain cloud. Yep. One has strict headmaster vibes, while the other has the vibes of a kindhearted Home-Economics teacher.

At night, I lay my (massively intelligent) head on the lean pillow, and then clutch the fluffy pillow like it’s a teddy bear and I’m five years old. Then I roll myself up into foetal position under my duvet, and adjust my neck till I feel perfectly comfortable, and ready to drift away into Dreamland.

Then I smile. Always.

The moment when my body finds itself nestled in the perfect little position for sleep, I have a split second where a number of thoughts run through my mind.

‘This mattress is honestly perfect. Ah-ahn?’

‘The cotton on this pillowcase is insanely soft. Or maybe I’m just tired.’

‘God really loves me, cause wow.’

‘The room is really, really cold tonight. Cozy stuff.’

‘I feel so comfortable right now. I wish I could take my bed to work with me everyday. But my boss no go gree.’

I usually end this moment with a few horrible flashbacks from my hostel and dorm rooms in secondary school, Babcock uni, and Lagos State NYSC camp — where the beds were a bit of a horror story. The appreciation for a nice, big, and regular bed washes over me; as my face stretches into the widest possible grin.

I smile for a few seconds, then I stop.

Sleep comes eventually.

One day, when I’m a cash madam — I fully intend to become one of those people who take sleep very seriously. Think the sleep content on Jackie Aina’s second handle, lavishlyjackie. That’s what I envision. Silk sheets and pillowcases, a humidifier, scented candles, cute eye masks that aren’t tight enough to give me a headache or smear my previously-applied skincare, and ambient music — possibly a loud mix of rain, wind and stormy sounds from the Atmosphere app.

Scrumdilly yum yum.

There isn’t really a point to this article; I just wanted to chronicle the way I feel every night when it’s time to sleep — because it’s an utterly simple thing whose beauty demands appreciation. I reckon I’ll look back on this piece someday when I have a newborn, and think about how much life and sleep have evolved into a new and different phenomenon. One that holds its own special beauty, and equally demands appreciation.

Then I’ll write about that, too.