PHOTOGRAPHY D 75 HOW TIME IS SPENT AND THE DIVISION OF LABOR. GRADUALLY, PEOPLE WERE GRANTED MORE CONTROL OVER HOW THEY SPENT THEIR TIME. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY BECAME RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN DAILY ROUTINE (WHICH NATURALLY ALWAYS CENTERED AROUND WORK). OVER TIME, THIS RESPONSIBILITY INCREASED AND PEOPLE BECAME LESS DEPENDENT ON THE CHURCH, DETERMINING THE COURSE OF THEIR LIVES THEMSELVES. ANXIETY CONTINUED TO INCREASE AND PEOPLE BEGAN THINKING ABOUT THE PROPER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK AND REST. THERE WAS ALSO AN INCREASE IN PEOPLE HAVING BAD CONSCIENCES. AT THE SAME TIME, WHEN TIME BECAME THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL, THERE WERE MORE CHANCES FOR IT TO BE MISUSED.
UNTIL THE 18TH CENTURY, IT WAS NORMAL FOR PEOPLE TO INTERRUPT THEIR REST AFTER THE “FIRST SLEEP.” DURING THIS PERIOD OF TIME, THEY WOULD WORK ON SOMETHING, PRAY AND THEN GO TO BED SOMEWHAT LATER. NOWADAYS, SUCH SLEEPING BEHAVIOR MIGHT WELL BE INTERPRETED AS A SIGN OF CLINICAL DEPRESSION. E. ROGER EKIRCH’S BOOK “AT DAY’S CLOSE” CLEARLY DEPICTS HOW PEOPLE WOULD WAKE UP AT LEAST ONCE DURING THE NIGHT AND SOMETIMES EVEN GET UP TO PERFORM CERTAIN TASKS. OUR MODERN VIEW WHICH STATES THAT HEALTHY SLEEP OUGHT TO OCCUR IN ONE BLOCK OF TIME SEEMS STRANGE, SINCE ONLY TWO CENTURIES AGO SLEEP WAS EXPERIENCED IN A DIFFERENT WAY. ANOTHER EXPERIMENT ALSO LOOKED INTO THIS PHENOMENON. PARTICIPANTS IN THIS STUDY WERE ASKED TO LIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DAY AND NIGHT DURING THE WINTERTIME, THAT IS, 10 HOURS OF LIGHT AND 14 HOURS OF DARKNESS. THEY ENDED UP DEVELOPING A WAY OF SLEEPING SIMILAR TO THE TYPE OF SLEEP OUR ANCESTORS FROM THE NOT TOO DISTANT PAST EXPERIENCED EVERY TIME THEY WENT TO BED: 4 HOURS OF SLEEP THEN A PAUSE OF 1-3 HOURS AND AFTERWARDS A SECOND PHASE OF SLEEP ALSO LASTING 4 HOURS. HERE WE CAN REALLY WONDER ABOUT WHETHER THE INSOMNIA THAT PEOPLE THINK THEY HAVE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT IS SIMPLY NOTHING OTHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF SLEEPING. AFTER THE 18TH CENTURY CAME TO A CLOSE, THIS WAY OF SLEEPING DISAPPEARED. THERE WERE DIFFERENT REASONS TO WAKE UP. IN THE CITY, IT WAS THE RINGING OF THE CHURCH BELLS OR THE CRY OF THE NIGHT-WATCHMAN. IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, IT WAS THE ANIMALS AND FIRE THAT HAD TO BE ATTENDED TO. OUR EXPECTATIONS OF HAVING A LONG, UNINTERRUPTED PERIOD OF SLEEP CAN PROVE TO BE VERY PROBLEMATIC, ESPECIALLY IF WE ARE AFRAID OF WAKING UP OR FALLING BACK ASLEEP. THE GAP BETWEEN THE TWO PHASES OF SLEEP SEEMS TO POINT TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SLEEP IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD AND SUBSEQUENT INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY. IT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TRUST OUR ANCESTORS HAD IN THEIR ABILITY TO FALL BACK ASLEEP AT ANY GIVEN TIME AND OUR MODERN WAY OF REGARDING SLEEP OCCURRING OVER SEVERAL SMALL PHASES AS A FAILURE. IN THE PAST, SLEEP WAS UNDERSTOOD AS A COMMUNAL ACT WHILE TODAY IT IS SEEN AS PURE INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE. THIS EARLIER UNDERSTANDING OF SLEEP MAY HAVE EVEN BROUGHT ABOUT A NORMALIZATION OF SLEEP. AT ANY RATE, IT REMAINS A FACT THAT THE CHURCH DIVIDED UP SLEEP DURING THE CANONICAL HOURS OF THE NIGHT AND OF THE DAY. THERE WERE THREE OR FOUR MARKING POINTS DURING THE NIGHT, WHICH WERE KNOWN AS VIGILAE OR AS “HOURS” AND DURING WHICH NUNS AND MONKS PRAYED FOR OTHERS, WHICH IN TURN LED TO PEOPLE FEELING MORE AT EASE. IT WAS NOT THE CASE, OF COURSE,THAT PEOPLE WERE AWARE OF THE SPECIFICS OF THESE PRAYERS BUT RATHER THEY HAD GROWN UP KNOWING THAT OTHERS WERE ALSO AWAKE AT NIGHT OR WERE WAKING UP AND THAT MANY OF THEM WERE PRAYING. JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS COULD CONSOLE SOMEONE WHO WAS WORRYING ABOUT THE ETERNAL SALVATION OF HIS OR HER SOUL.
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