It's Getting Hot In Here....

[ladysprite]

I'm a creature of sunshine and warm weather, no doubt. I can deal with heat a heck of a lot better than cold, both because it just intrinsically bothers me less and because I'm better at consciously adapting to it. I can pin my hair up, I change my eating habits, and in drastic situations I'm capable of throwing away my deep-seated opposition to bare skin and wandering around the house and neighborhood as close to naked as legally possible.

There's just one thing that I can't change, though, and I'm not quite sure I understand it. No matter how hot it gets, and no matter how stifling it is, I can't sleep without at least a sheet over me. In the winter, I tend to keep the room cool and pile on the blankets, but even at the peak of summer, when the thought of any other fabric against my skin makes me ill, I'm completely and utterly incapable of falling asleep with my body uncovered.

It's not a shyness thing, since I'm in the privacy of my own home and bed. It's not a cold thing, either, obviously. I don't know whether it's just habit, or some deep subconscious need for safety that translates as seeking a barrier between myself and the world, or.... whatever. But I do wish I could train myself out of it, given the chokingly hot week ahead of me....

Comments

[madamruppy.livejournal.com]

I'm very similar. For me the sheet is just enough to prevent breezes. A breeze from a fan, open window or AC drives me nuts and produces a shivering response that is not condusive to sleep. I often kick it off in the night which is fine,b ut when I'm falling asleep I need the sheet.

[98.livejournal.com]

I, too.

In my case it is probably reinforced by a particular memory of childhood when I fell asleep with uncovered, bare shoulders, it being so hot, and woke in the morning with painful, stiff shoulders, it having gotten so much cooler during the night.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way. It started when we went to see Dracula at the Children's Theater and I have been terrified/concerned about ghoulies in my room ever since. If I have a cover on, they can't find me.

[tpau]

i am even worse. i have to have some weight on me, o i have a down comforter. and the AC on high...

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Me too. I had always assumed it was because I wanted privacy (when I was less than 18, my parents required that I sleep with my bedroom door open), but I guess now it's turned into a security thing.

[citabria]

I'm similar about sleeping, though often a sheet isn't enough -- I need more weight on me than that, like a comforter. I'm dreading being in the hospital, because I know it'll be too damned hot, but I'm going to need multiple hospital-weight blankets to be able to sleep!

[aerynne.livejournal.com]

Me too! In fact, even a sheet sometimes isn't enough--I really want some weight. Hotels, with their thin little blanket-like coverings, get really difficult, because they're too light. I want a real comforter, dammit.

But I also have to have my head above the covers. If the covers are over my head, I can't breathe.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

I've found that sometimes I can get to sleep if I cover only part of my body, depending on the temperature. So, I might have a sheet over my arms and chest, but be uncovered from the waist down. That seems to help when it's hot; my entire body doesn't build up any heat.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

I used to be like that, but have managed to train myself out of it... I think I progressively covered less and less of myself...

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

It's because the alligators can't see you if you're under a sheet. *nods sagely*

I've got the same thing... and it pretty much stems from when I was little and I knew there were alligators on the floor.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I'm like that too. Need something covering me to sleep. In the summer, in the really warm, I'll generally aim a fan directly accross the bed, so I can still have that sheet over me.

[jducoeur]

Largely the same for me. I can kinda-sorta force myself to sleep without a sheet if I'm tired enough and it's hot enough, but I certainly don't sleep well...

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I can't sleep uncovered either, though if it's hot a sheet across my lap is usually enough.