It is 1:28am, and I feel more awake than I did this morning at 8:30am. Although I have been doing nothing but reading E2 for the past hour, and am a bit hungry, I feel like I am being productive. With slow, light dubstep playing in my headphones, and JDarkRoom enticing me with it's dark-grey screen (damn laptop back-light), I am nowhere near ready to go to sleep.
You see, it is in the depths of night that my mind is the clearest, and that I experience true fascination. Even my experience of reading is different; during the day, reading is just that - reading. I interpret and digest information, and do so on a nearly subconscious level. During the night though... Things get interesting. Reading becomes more than a utility. No longer an act of entertainment, it becomes one of discovery. Curiosity takes over, and my mind lowers its daytime filters. At night, the things I read possess emotions, and personalities.
I may read a write-up on individualism, or a story of one's teenage angst. A node on social acceptance, or a poem on why "my hands shake when I light a cigarette". No matter what it is, the result is the same. The feeling of satisfaction is humbling, as I realize that there are others out there with similar experiences, ideas, and opinions. As I realize that I have so much to learn, and so many ways to improve myself.
Night time is the time to let the darkness envelope you; the time to sit in a chair with the lights off, music playing, and to ponder; To wonder if there is anyone else out there doing the same. To wonder if their heart speeds up when they hear a sad love song, or if they are hungry too.
It isn't all about reading though. The magic of being awake at 2am doesn't end there. You don't need music or writing to enjoy the night. When the house is quiet with those asleep, and the streets are empty, you can marvel at it all in silence. You can observe the world without it observing you back. Walk into the shadows, and stand there.
The dark is beautiful.