Dear, Penpals

A new week, a new letter. This could be a regularity, but we’ll see. The reason that I do not have a schedule is because I am already trying to get into other schedules. More specifically, a self-care routine. I’ve heard before that it is best to focus on implementing one aspect of a routine at a time and my choice as of late has been a nightly routine.

I’ve always struggled with sleeping. My first battle with a sleep schedule was back when I was five years old; I vividly remember just laying awake all night. I saw the sun set and rise from my parent’s bed. Yes, I still slept with my parents at that age, my bedroom had a spider problem and I had arachnophobia up until I was about seventeen. That night I lay next to my mom glancing from the clock to the window for the whole night. I watched the moonlight dance across the bedroom floor, gracefully twirling away and soon I watched as the sunlight broke through the trees and cast shadows about the lawn and bedroom.

I still struggle with sleep and will find myself lying in bed staring at the ceiling, counting the knots in each board, and noticing how the moon comes through my skylight, sometimes bouncing off different trinkets in my room or how that white light spreads across my bedding before settling on my face for a few minutes, only to disperse soon after. Other nights I will give up on just lying under my covers and dig my laptop out and start writing. I try not to give in to the midnight writing urges as that often will turn into me not being able to sleep until the early morning, sometimes even late morning. In order to correct this lack of a sleep schedule I have tried countless combinations of products, from skin care to sleep aids.

Until recently, as in the past few weeks, have I finally found a self-care routine that works for me. I start the evening by doing something joyous, whether that be video games, reading, watching something, or writing does not matter. I follow this by getting one of the main pillars of my nighttime routine, Sleepy Time Tea, specifically the echinacea variation. I could go on and on about how amazing this tea is, not only is the flavor pleasant, compared to most other nighttime teas, it works wonders. I mean this is the tea that I drank when I got home from the nightshift at a bakery, my relationship with baking is a story for another time however, and it was the only thing that could truly put me to sleep after spending hours crafting ungodly amounts of croissants and scones. I would come home coated in a combination of usually flour and butter stuck beneath my nails and embedded in my hair, and my mom would always have a cup of Sleepy Time Tea with me after I cleansed myself of the repercussions of spending 6 hours straight, baking.

Once I finish my cup of tea, I call it a day and start on the next part of my nighttime routine: my skincare. I have always struggled with liking myself, mostly due to things outside of my control, but my skin and hair are some of the only things I can grasp and truly take control of. I only recently switched up my skin routine and I enjoy this much more than any other I have had. Which is all thanks to good ole Korean skincare products. People are not kidding when they say that asian skincare is some of the best. I have been using AprilSkin products for nearly a month now and my skin feels and looks much healthier. My skin was in a very poor state at the start so it still isn’t as healthy as it can be but there have been noticeable improvements. I will wash my face with the cleanser, Carrotene cleanser to be specific. The smoothness of the cleanser is immensely soothing and helps to calm me. After that it depends on the day but I either do a pore facemask also from AprilSkin or simply put my moisturizer on.

A slightly controversial step of my nighttime routine is the fact that I will often brush my teeth and floss after I do my skincare. I’ve seen others say you should brush before washing your face, but for me, I haven’t noticed a difference, to be entirely honest. I use Hello! toothpaste and alternate with a prescription toothpaste, poor tooth enamel from a lack of proper care when I had braces as a child. After that, I will apply a lip balm, either my everyday one or a jelly one for nighttime.

Honestly, this nighttime routine has helped a lot but it goes beyond just prepping for bed, every night I also listen to either rain sounds, music or a combination of the two to sleep. It also helps that I always have a snuggle buddy in the form of one of the multiple cats that I live with, either one of my two boys Loki and Smoothie, or one of the lovely ladies, Ambrosia, Isis, and Nala.

And all of these things combined make up my nighttime routine. I’ve always loved the twilight hours and enjoy being up late, but other times, I do need to be asleep earlier than usual. There is no perfect way for me to not be ravaged by insomnia that wouldn’t involve a trip to the doctor but for now I can maintain a somewhat normal schedule. Now, this does help with my writing as it gives me more mental capacity. I say that as I can lose most of my mental capabilities when I’m just a few hours short on sleep. Without those measly few hours, my writing becomes gibberish or even something that I loathe to do. Or attempt to do. In all honesty, sleep is important, in case you weren’t aware of that already. It is something that keeps us going at our best with superior mental functionality especially compared to when one is sleep deprived.

So long letter made short. If you want to get into something and do your best in your interests, get a good sleep schedule. I hope you all get enough sleep and a schedule that works for you and your existence.

Wishing you all the best,