Harshi Pannala Q3 #2 - When the Sun Retires

I have always been a morning person. By nightfall, my brain slows down and it becomes too quiet for my liking. The daytime harbored the perfect environment for me to complete my work and fulfill my social obligations—my duty being to bother everyone in sight. Just like one of the Twitches sisters, when the sun came up I was up, and when it went down I took my rest. If an event went late into the evening, maybe I was physically there but never mentally. However, the tables have turned. Actually, I don’t think it’s a sudden change, my awareness of the nightime’s value has simply become more acute. 

The darkened sky full of stars—although, those are a bit lacking in Fremont—brings a necessary tranquility. It divides the worries of today from tomorrow. Tomorrow is a separate entity that our current selves don’t have to process just yet. 

Picture Credits: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3940718410291539/

Moreover, the dreams we conjure up as we fall asleep are fascinating. Those vivid experiences amidst deep REM sleep give me comfort. My parents have just adopted the cutest, fluffy golden retriever and, bless, a large stack of pancakes are ready for me in the kitchen. No, they’re not all that peaceful. Sometimes I wake up wondering where the tornado is (as if we’ve ever gotten more than a rain shower here) and frantically checking if my sister is still in her room, but it adds to the excitement (right?). If my mind isn’t occupied with those real worries that may attack me tomorrow  morning, like that diabolical math test, then I am calm. 

The night provides escape. Perhaps it’s just my delusional subconsciously choosing to avoid the worries. However, my unsolicited evenings that go past midnight are the best therapy I have yet to find; I haven’t spoken to Betty from BetterHelp yet, but I doubt she would provide me more comfort than my unbothered nights could. I will always be a self-proclaimed morning bird, but nightfall quiets my mind in a way the daytime can never seem to. My daily TV show episode before I fall asleep also truly does wonders to ease my mind.

Comments

  1. Romir SFebruary 1, 2026 at 2:05 AM

    Harshi, I think I'll start by saying I enjoy how much I can hear your voice in your words. I find it ironic that you wrote about how you enjoy working in the morning, and how you find the night less productive, while here I am at the bright and sunny hour of 2:00 a.m.writing my comments. I've always found myself to be more efficient at the time of the day. I find it peacefully quiet, and I enjoy having time solely to myself, or at least mostly. Everyone else being asleep allows me to feel productive in a sense that I won't have anyone to text.
    I def agree with your statement that the stars—and in essence the night—serve as a barrier between today and tomorrow, and that's why I feel comfortable sleeping so late. Because in my eyes, tomorrow is not today until I wake up in the morning. I liked reading your parenthetical thoughts, as they made the blog feel more authentic and true to you. I found the dream part of your blog particularly enjoyable—specifically the pancakes part, but maybe I'm just hungry lol.
    I will also say I feel a bit left out because I have no idea who Betty is. Overall, I enjoyed your blog, and found it quite relatable.

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  2. Tanisha MadhukarFebruary 4, 2026 at 6:19 PM

    I agree that the night has this hypnotizing tranquility that allows for us to rewind after a long day.

    Similar to you, I only recently realized that my mind learns better in the morning but thinks better at night. Despite my constant efforts to sleep and wake up early, I never can because my mind is stuck filling the silence that the night provides. However, I think it’s better, and honestly a blessing that I am able to recount my day, the good and the bad, before I rest for the next one.

    You make a good point, that the night is sort of like a time-out from the constant bustling from yesterday and the fleeting worries of tomorrow. It’s the one time where you feel present in the day, despite it being night. It acts as this mediator which, even for just a second, makes the world stop spinning so fast.

    Before it clocked to me you were having a dream, I was very excited to hear about your “fluffy golden retriever.” It reminds me how even if I realize it’s a dream I’m still stuck in that trance until I inevitably have to wake up.

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  3. Lara Reyes-TerryFebruary 4, 2026 at 8:00 PM

    From a night owl: morning people scare me. Jokes not aside just yet, I love seeing you (as a morning person) coming to the dark side. Now jokes aside, you bringing up how Tomorrow is “a separate entity” that we can’t necessarily comprehend yet reminded me of this poem I wrote last year that, without yapping too much, was basically about pulling an all nighter and the night failing the speaker with Tomorrow personified as another character who’s like…flirting with the speaker?? It’s weird but it kind of reminded me of how tomorrow is another chance we have in life, taking it one day at a time. But I completely agree on the front that the night provides escape, literal and metaphorical. Crimes, morally dubious deeds, even Batman, they all operate under the cover of night. It’s quiet, isolating, like everything done in those hours will be forgotten come the morning sun. And you’re absolutely right, sometimes we just need an “unbothered night[s]” to cope with living.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harshi PannalaFebruary 4, 2026 at 9:39 PM

      Hey Lara! Your poem sounds super interesting. If you ever bring it to class, let me know because I would love to read it.

      Delete
  4. Alex FrancavillaFebruary 4, 2026 at 9:35 PM

    I find it really interesting how the calmness of the dark night sky brings a multitude of different benefits; of course, it's a great setting to fall asleep in, but also to quietly study, or contemplate life, or, as you mentioned, provide escape. To me, nighttime is freeing because there are no more eyes on my actions and no more expectations of my character.

    Dreams are indeed fascinating. I find it a little scarily beautiful that when humans (and, to an extent, many animals) fall unconscious for 8 hours every single day, one side of the brain hallucinates stories with impossible characters and plotlines while the other side of the brain watches in awe, and that this is just something that happens to every single person for very little explainable reason. I once saw a Tumblr post that jokingly hypothesized that dreaming is the true purpose of human life, and that the purpose of our awake lives is purely to fuel our dreams.

    Going off on a slight tangent here, BetterHelp is a terrible company that exploits and underpays its therapists and has a history of leaking sensitive user information. There are several vastly superior options for anyone seeking genuine therapy (all this information can be accessed publicly through reputable sources online).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harshi PannalaFebruary 4, 2026 at 9:42 PM

      The Tumblr post theory is actually very intriguing—thanks for fueling my mind-wandering. I'll have to add that idea to my ever growing list of what life's purpose is. Also, I had no idea about the BetterHelp controversy so I will certainly look into it.

      Delete

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