Night Light.

   The downside of a writer's vivid imagination.

   I am not afraid of the dark, but...

   There are occasions, fortunately not too many or too often,, when I have truly horrendous dreams.  When I wake from one of these, the sort which follow you back into the waking world and won't let go, I put the light on for a while and read, or make a drink, until it loses its grip.

   This is the downside of having a vivid writer's imagination.  This is also why I deliberately don't write - or read -  'trapped underground' scenes just before going to bed.  Particularly bad news for any claustrophobe.  I know that my subconscious will continue to work on them as I fall asleep.

   Sometimes I deliberately set my mind wandering through happy memories before sleep and these don't wake me, sweating and wondering where the hell I am.  Quite often I don't remember any dreams I may have at such times.  My mental note-taker is so much better at dark stuff.

   After a bad dream I'm reluctant to turn the light off again because that seems like inviting the bad stuff back in.  Telling yourself to 'man up' doesn't always work.

   But my bedroom light, bright enough to read by before settling down, is too bright really to leave on.

   Also, rarely again, I wake up to use the toilet and get disorientated in the dark and can't find the door.  Which is a straight invitation to panic and feel trapped.

   I used to have a kid's nightlight which plugged directly into the wall sockets, and left this burning in the hallway when I first moved into the unfamiliar bungalow.  The strange layout  caught me out for a while when doors which opened the wrong way or on the wrong side were at odds with years of instinct from the old place.

   With that dim light enough trickled around the door frame to let me find it easily on even the darkest of  nights.

   But that particular make of light made the news and was recalled as a safety hazard because some of them burst into flames.  Not a good idea, so it went into the bin without me even bothering to pull it apart to see how it worked  ;-(

   Cheap foreign imports made down to a price instead of a standard.

   I recently ordered a small bulb for a bedside lamp, to sit at the bottom end of my bed, facing away from me..  Some of you may remember the 5 watt 'pygmy' bulbs that were used as night lights for children.  Sometimes in blue or red to soften the light even more.

   This modern iteration is a LED bulb, a true energy saver, with a power  of 0.5 watts.  I use brighter versions of it elsewhere in the bungalow for my general lighting needs.  They certainly last longer than the  old school incandescent filament bulbs.  I've been here over five years now and none of them have died.  The filament bulbs died regularly

    The little half-watt produces a soft glow which is more than enough to let me see the walls and find the door.  But not enough to keep me awake.

   I shall give it a good 'field test' for a week or so.

        If it wasn't for the reflection on the red and gold spines of the books the light would be even softer.

         Gyppo

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Good, practical solution.

I know that nightmare sensation that won't let you go.  It's sleep paralysis - the thing that stops you getting up and taking a swing at your partner because you're dreaming you're being attacked.  For me the answer is just to move - even turning over in bed will break its grip, though a cup of tea and a page or two of a good book is even better.

After a few nights of using it I can tell you it works.

Another fascinating thing is that the little bulb runs completely cold, unlike most bulbs which generate some level of heat.