I was today years old when I realised that midday — 12 pm1 — is actually the middle of the day.
Feels like not so early, but still morning, right?
No, wrong. Morning starts at 4 am, night stars at 8 pm.
That’s what I love about the language, there is this wisdom, right here. Right. Here.
As the society evolves, so is the language. These days, 8 pm can be both night and evening, and people don’t mean night-night when they refer to 8 pm as night. Yet, still the wisdom keeps.
It is recommended to go to sleep early, and 8—9 pm is early enough. And when you go to sleep at 8 pm, waking up at 4 am actually does not feel like you’re mental. I was doing that for a very long time, and I was the happiest me. Because it’s natural for us, humans. To sleep at nights.
And when I thought of that, it’s quite simple. If we look at a day as ‘begins at midnight, ends at midnight’ —
Meaning from 12 am till 12 pm, or from 00 till 24, if you will.
— it’s 4 hours of night, then a 16 hours day, then 4 hours of the night again.
And four plus eight equals twelve.
Twelve o’clock is the middle of the day. If you sleep till that late, well, you’ve slept most of the morning then.
And wasted most of the night.
At least you’re not that weirdo who goes to sleep at 8 pm, right?