Brian's World

Pillows

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a few years now.  No time better than the present to detail this information, I’m unsure what my bedding situation will be next year.

For those of you who have been in to room at some point over the past 3.5 years you may have noticed I have 3 pillows positioned vertically at the head of my bed.  Unlike home, I don’t have purely decorational pillows, but I do my best to create an aesthetically pleasing bed.  The first pillow in the queue is a smaller pillow (maybe 18 inches x 18 inches), and was stitched together by Katie Boudreau sometime in Middle School.  Graphical in nature, this pillow contains elevated sections of 4 dogs on a scenic nature background.  The second pillow is a regular-sized pillow but is moderately thick.  None of these pillows are stuffed with feathers, and this pillow’s thickness peaks around 8 inches at the center.  As a thick pillow, this pillow is moderately soft and compresses to provide a mildly comfortable sleep environment.  Last in the pillow line is another regular sized pillow, with a thickness peaking around 4 inches thoug.  This pillow is not terrible soft and doesn’t compress comfortably.  I suspect when my head is laying on it the pillow compresses to be 1-2 inches thick.

Every night I use the last “brick-like” pillow to rest my head when I sleep.  While turning down my bed, I relocate the large poofy pillow to the floor next to my bed.  I’ve tried using it once or twice when I first installed it, but I fear that using it too much will compress it down to be hard like the brick pillow.  I’ve concluded that its best left unused by me, available for the rare instance I should need to provide a pillow for someone else.   Since most people enjoy soft pillows, it seems logical to keep that one soft and available.  Pillows are not as easy to acquire as say, matches, so you really have to think about how to be prepared here.  While I haven’t done the math, this pillow stands dormant, in the ready-stage, most of the year,  always available for emergency use or alike.

As for the smaller “graphical” pillow, I place that under the covers on top of my chest while I fall asleep.  In the winter it helps keep my core warm, and I think it would also serve to slow down the blade of anyone trying to stab me in the chest while I slept.  Wouldn’t want that LOTR stabbing thing going on without some very very very mild protection in place.  I could also use it to absorb blood if I was stabbed and started bleeding. This is a very unlikely scenario most nights.  Since I have not mastered the skill of sleeping perfectly still the entire night, it does drift slightly during the night.

I use the less-soft, mostly hard pillow to sleep on night after night here in college.  It is not very enjoyable, but I does make me feel better to know that a more comfortable pillow is available if the need were to arise.  There have been a few nights I’ve been resting in bed thinking “Hrm self, you might fall asleep faster if you used the other pillow.”  I have managed to remain steadfast and never given in to my temptation to use a more comfortable pillow, serving as a constant reminder that I am on a decent course.

Well, I should get horizontal and rest my head on this pillow.  I think I’ve actually used rocks which are more comfortable.  That wasn’t a metaphor, I do not bring pillows when I go camping.  If I really need something to rest my head on, I can improvise.

Goodnight moon.