Something I wish I could do

Walking across the building (had to get an additional microscope for a student; one of the labs I teach in is used so heavily that a lot of the microscopes are trashed and need repair by this time of the year), I saw one of my former students. He was a good student, and he still says hello to me in the hall when we happen to meet.

Today, he was sacked out on the sofa in the student lounge. And that makes me jealous. I've long been jealous of people who can sleep anywhere. For me, I have to be somewhere dark and quiet and preferably on the cool side in order to sleep. And I can't sleep when I feel people are looking at me...I need privacy.

I also knew a guy when I was in grad school who kept a pillow in the bottom drawer of his desk. At times when he wasn't doing anything between classes, he'd go into his office, pull out the pillow, and take a nap with his head down on the desk. Even if the lights were on. Even if the other people in the lab were talking.

I wonder if it's possible for a person to retrain their mind to allow themselves to sleep anywhere? One reason why I didn't even remotely consider joining the military when I was of age was that I was afraid my sleeping difficulties would lead to me washing out - I doubted if I could sleep in a barracks setting.

I really wish I were better at "tuning out" the world so I could sleep. (I honestly wish I was better at "tuning out" the rest of the world in a lot of ways.)