Calling to all people who can’t seem to fall asleep tonight. Maybe for everyone there are different reasons why slumber seems to fail us. For me, when I get started on something, and when I feel truly “productive” there is no stopping. These “revelations,” for some reason, always come at night fall. When I should be sensible and catch up on well deserved sleep, plans and the future can never seem to escape my mind. This could develop into a particular bad habit, but this is how i “run”.

We all function in different ways, and well mine, seem to occur arbitrarily. It could be midnight, it could be two AM and a new story idea can hit me: no thought, simply grab my journal and quickly scribe my thoughts and ideas. Room is a total mess? It’s three AM? Not a problem. Why I feel these sudden productive moments, I do not know. What I do know, however, is nothing bad ever comes of them. In fact, these spur of the moments are the opposite of harm. They are inspirations. Good- no- great ones.

Ah, the dash (-). The new effective technique I have learned in English class. Add a dash and the whole room will stop. It shows emotion, it shows excitement, it shows meaning! Finally the author has a voice, a personality, a style. A dash. And these dashes are not meaningless. They provide entertainment-no-drama! Who does not love to read drama? 

A reader now may ask, what is the relation between inspiration and the dash? Dear reader, I shall explain. One results in the other, yet not the order you think. Imagine:

A sentence. A beginning of a sentence. You start to just formulate your thoughts into proper words. You think you are finding sense and meaning and all of the sudden…your thoughts change! You have had a revelation, an inspiration. Your ideas may not have experienced a three sixty, yet they have grown and expanded! The blocks have built on top of another. Your sentence now has a dash. A wait a minute, a hold it right there, a can you say that again? It’s the time to realize that your thoughts and dreams have altered, you have discovered something new, you are becoming more aware with the world and with yourself. The DASH ladies and gentlemen, explore your inspirations and develop them! Shakespeare could not write a breathtaking monologue with one simple soliloquy- no, rather sparks flew as he wrote “What light through yonder window breaks” and continued on and on in a passionate rage. 

The DASH represents the change the revelation the beginning, middle, and end. It encompasses it all. Who we were (!), who we are now (.) , and who we are going to be (?). So many questions yet so little answers. Yet, the DASH allows us to start the journey of question. It permits us to begin to voyage of questioning and reasoning and answers and discoveries and more incredible ventures. 

Once again, reaching to all insomniacs tonight. Tonight is my night of insomnia, my night of prodcution, inspiration, and action. Yet action must wait till the morning. For now, we shall all sleep dreaming of the wonders of tomorrow and the new steps we are all taking. Good night, for now, and for all, good luck on our adventures tomorrow.

May our dreams not erase our inspirations tonight, may our dreams rather enlighten and take our imagination flight.