ADRIÁN DOZETAS

That’s the attitude to have: taking a nap

It’s nothing new that a physiological event such as napping became a luxury. The industrial revolution has taken sleep away from mankind: we couldn’t sleep when we wanted to, but when we could. Likewise, the revolution that followed the industrial one, the digital one, not only continued the legacy of its predecessor but also made us sleep poorly, with a video in the background, with the light of the screens penetrating our eyelids. I propose that, before the next revolution, the artificial intelligence revolution, we start the siesta revolution.

The nap, natural refreshment, is an act of resistance against productivity and at the same time in pro because it divides the day in two. And like any act or any person who today does not stand for or against a cause, the siesta is easily added to the catalog of the doomed.

Accusing fingers point at those who sleep and love to nap, napping is a symbol of laziness. But the napper is foresighted, not lazy. The siesta is the art of resting before being tired. We must sleep not only without guilt but with wickedness. The siesta on weekdays also has that extra flavor of sleeping while others do stuff.

The good napper is a tourist of the closest paradise we have and has the power to waste time in the best way: disappearing from the world for a while in the middle of the day. A moment of individual privacy. Alone or shared. Glory and siesta. The napper closes his/her eyes after half a day of noise and fury as if to say: you sons of a big bitch, stay out there.

Here are for you the 24 Preludes by Shostakovich. They last in total 2 hours and 15 minutes. The first twelve preludes can be listened during a perverse lunch and two demolishing glasses of wine. The rest of the other twelve preludes, to sleep.