02 nov 2013

at the behest of a friend, because i aim to keep things interesting as i venture into a month-long daily blogging habit, i am going to talk about daylight savings time. feel free to weigh in on your opinions in the comments box.

i didn't know anything about the history of daylight savings time before i researched it this morning, reading articles from time and national geographic, and skimming through a third article from quartz, an unfamiliar site which also ranked highly in my google query. the last article further argued for time zone reform in the US, and it's a little early for me to take that on. so, daylight savings time... 

from what i read, the goal of daylight savings time is to conserve energy and promote activity. those are some very pleasant, capitalist ideals. the concept that we should take advantage of the daylight hours is nice and all, but considering how my friend in gothenburg lives her life with considerably abbreviated daylight hours, i feel i have nothing to complain about. (they do practice daylight savings in sweden, by the way.) and, as the articles i read seem to decry the use of daylight savings though they largely aimed to present the information from a neutral perspective, those encouraged my leanings. in this modern age, daylight savings time simply feels indulgent. 

my direct experience, as the extended daylight savings period comes to a close, is that it has been challenging to get up early for work. i wake at 5:30am these days, as it is necessary for me to get on the road around 6:30am in order to have a fairly peaceable commute. it is not even the "butt-crack of dawn," at that hour. it is pitch black. my body does not want to move, even if i do know what is best for me. the slight chill in the air finds my cats snuggling right up against me, stealing my body heat and my will to leave the comfort of my covers. now that time is going to be back to normal, i can wake up more easily. frankly, that appeals to me.