Making Your Bed

By Suzanne Reisler Litwin

I’m sure you have heard the expression, “You made your bed, now you have to lie in it.” I have thought about this for a long time.  I have come to realize that “making your bed” is a representation of yourself.  The people who decided to “Occupy Wall Street” in 2011, made their beds together, on the ground, in solidarity for a cause. This act represented all of them. They say our sleep position represents our personality. But is where we sleep and how we prepare our beds, really a representation of ourselves? Let’s think about this for a moment.

On any given morning, I make up my bed.  I actually enjoy making it because I get to see how I moved while I was asleep. Seeing this unlocks the mystery of what happened while I was asleep. I love my sheets, my mattress, and the touch of my pillows. When I leave my room, I usually glance back at my bed and think about later, when I will be in it again.  We have a connection.

Once in a while, I have a house keeper who changes the sheets and makes my bed.  This is a huge luxury and I look forward to it every time.  On those days, I take full advantage of feeling pampered. I feel that I am in touch with my reality and the bed that I sleep in is mine.  It is the best bed in the world.  It is home.  It is safe.

I have a friend who suddenly became wealthy.  She no longer makes her own bed.  She has housekeepers who do this for her.  Actually, she doesn’t sleep in it very often anymore because she travels so much. I think is some way, her reality has become a little jaded. I wonder… if she made her bed more often, would she be more grounded? If she spent more time doing the simple things and reflecting on her own surroundings and life a little more, would she be more in touch with the “real” world? Perhaps performing a simple task such as making one’s own bed makes us appreciate the small joys of life more? Was my friend more level-headed when she made her own bed? I wonder.

Which leads me to other wealthy individuals, celebrities, and their beds.  I wonder if they ever make their beds. Maybe taking the time to make your bed and reflect on your life quietly, in stillness, would offer people a more meaningful existence? I have come to appreciate and find peace and happiness in the simplest things that life has to offer. It has been a gift.

This wealthy friend of mine told me to buy only white sheets and coverings for my bed.  She said they are the most glamorous.  Obviously, she doesn’t know that my bed is also my desk, my office, my play room, my den, my resting place for my children and animals, even my nail polishing table. How could white survive in my world? I always need a patterned covering as this surface gets destroyed easily from all the activities. White???? What hotel-style life does she now sleep in??

Another thought on how your bed represents you, is people who choose to sleep on the ground or very close to the ground.  Would we say that these are the most grounded people?  Campers set up their beds almost directly on the ground. Are they closest to the earth in body and soul? Are they the most connected people to simple living?  Do they get it better than the rich friend who sleeps on only white sheets in hotels?

Can we say that how and where you make your bed is really representative of who you are?

I wonder.

A few thoughts on making your bed….

1.  When you wake up in the morning, take a long look at your bed.  Imagine what you did while you were sleeping to make your bed look as it does now.  Did you move much? Did you sleep well? Be grateful for this sleep and be thankful for this new day.
2. Take the time to make your bed. Feel the sheets and covers and reflect on the peace it gave you as you finished making your bed look beautiful.  Take that peace and carry it throughout your day.
3. Take a moment to reflect. Is the bed you made reflective of you? Are you on the ground? Are you in a place that doesn’t represent who you really are? How can you change this to make these two worlds more aligned? Do you need to change to better reflect where it is you sleep?

I truly believe that how we sleep, where we sleep, how we make and lie in our bed is representative of who we are as human beings. I’d love to know your thoughts.

Many blessings,

~Suzanne

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About Suzanne Reisler Litwin

Suzanne Reisler Litwin is the author of The Black Velvet Jacket. She is a wife and mother of three. Ironically, Suzanne was Erica Diamond’s Computer Science teacher growing up. (Talk about a full circle moment).

Visit Suzanne online at www.SuzanneReislerLitwin.com

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I would love your thoughts on today’s post. It’s different than the usual EricaDiamond.com post, but it really makes you think and reflect on how in touch you are with reality. For me, it made me slow down, and take a moment to pause. It really did.