I was not so enthused about waking up late this morning but doggedly accepted it. I'm a Working Creature of the night that practices My Nursing profession when the moon and stars are vivid in the heavens, only seeing shrouden clouds when the Lunar phase is full and my shadow present in the nocturnal glow. I mesh easily between the night and day having found purpose in both and consider myself privileged to know of each acutely and the benefits that each possesses. It is through my acquaintance with the night that my senses have been finely tuned filling in the spaces that are not discernable as the Sun waits it's turn on the other side of the Earth. The light of my memory is used to decipher the darkness and my sense of touch brings clarity to what presents itself before Me. The Day brings My vision into it's full potential storing the sights into my memory to be brought forth as the Sun once more rushes away leaving me to plot my course once more through the dimness. I value both for what they bring to Me an avidly search out each one's unique gifts.
Those who begin their work as the evening approaches possess or acquire a different personality and philosophy than those of their Daylight counterparts as I have found. Though still acute, Their personalities mirror the softness of the hours surronding them without the magnification of discrepanceies that the day brings so scrutinizingly. Their skills in their specialties are enhanced with the luxury of examination without distraction making many of their judgements clear and precise. There is no glaring competition between co-workers since many have withstood that storm and no longer wish to be in the eye of controversy. "Flying under the Radar" is an ever present part of their terminology. I find no 'Grave' in the 'Graveyard Shift.'
Though much work is to be done, it is achieved in a stillness that the Day cannot comprehend. As paperwork is reviewed, patient's assessed and preparations for the day are made, the environment is lighter and not chained to the taut schedule of the day. Rather it is loosely woven routine achieving what is necessary but allowing one a luxury to perform their tasks uninterrupted and unencumbered until completion. The voices needn't be loud to carry over the frantic pace and sounds that the day brings but, rather hushed and in an intimate conversational tone without the need to compete with the clamoring of so many in a edifice during the daylight. Whilst in those Sunlit hours it is a cacophany of intermittently pitched sounds and energies that reverberate against the walls shattering the Peace of the stealthiest Soul and interrupting the tasks of the most diligent. The differences between the 2 shifts are innumerable.
As I sit at my Station with my tasks before Me, it is not unusual that a patient may wander sleepless from His room searching for a diversion. It is then that I have the priceless luxury of putting down my pen or turning from a keyboard to focus My attention upon them. I'v found the conversations to err on the side of the truth during these times. With My whole attentiveness being focused upon the person across from the desk there is little reason to fabricate tales as our eyes lock onto each other with concerns being addressed in a matter of fact manner with a tone of voice that is soothing. You can detect the rigidness of their posture softly melting and their vocal tone being lowered to match that of the one being spoken to. They have unwittingly embraced the spirit of the night and eventually return to their beds unsure of the reason that their fears our allayed and a serenity surrounds them. Once safely in their beds, I can calmly resume My work.
For many years I heard foreboding stories regarding working the night shift. The tales went as far as to cite incidences of sudden onsets of poor health, low productivity and schisms within families. Though I'm sure that their may be some truth to these stories, I haven't found it to be so. Rather, I have found myself in a place that destiny had prescribed for Myself before I could walk and able to perceive this New world in the fashion of a child's joy and wonderment. After all, How could you sustain discord or an intolerance as the Moon is bathing you in it's light, the Stars give glimpses of the galaxies that surround them and in the distance, the mournful call of a whippoorwill reaches out to You? I can't.
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