Sleeping with the door closed

So I was talking to my good friend and former roommie John Harstad last week when he mentioned an awkward occurrence during the middle of the night.  He usually sleeps with his bedroom door closed, but for some reason, in the middle of the night, he got up, and opened his door.  When he woke up, he had no idea why his door was open.  He lives alone in a 2 bedroom condo.   He has no reason to HAVE to sleep with his door closed.

Then I got to thinking… I have slept with my door closed for the majority of my life.   When I was little, I used to have my mom and dad make sure the door was never all the way shut; however, as a grew older, I made them shut the door tight (the hallway night light was too bright).  Another reason for shutting my door was because either my brother’s music was too loud or my dad’s snoring was too loud.  Although I never really could hide from my dad’s snoring….

So living in my parent’s house, I wanted privacy, so I shut my door, right?  College dorms, doors are closed at night.  Apartments, usually sleep with doors closed.  But when you’re home alone, or live by yourself, you really have no reason to close that door, do you?  The main reason we close our bedroom door at night is for the privacy, nuh true?  Who do we need privacy from if we live alone?  Especially if the other doors in your house are locked as well?  I live alone now, and I have to have both of my doors (one door from kitchen to room, the other door is from my room leading into a hallway) closed when I go to sleep.  Perhaps just a security?  I don’t lock the bedroom doors, though.  So if someone breaks in, it would give me a whole 2 extra seconds while he/she has to open the door.  I dunno.

Then again, maybe it’s all a metaphor.  We close the door at night, to keep out everything that happened that day.  So we are alone in our bedroom.  We are able to sleep more soundly, then, when we wake up, we can open that door to a new day.  Push/Pull it open, shoving all of yesterday’s worries behind the door, breathing in the new fresh air of a lovely day.  Just remember.  We choose how we want to feel when we wake up.  If we wake up with positive thoughts and smile first thing, our days will most likely be much more productive and energized.