The third and fourth criteria are where “the rubber hits the road.” These are criteria regarding feasibility: this might be the greatest pathway in the world but is too expensive or time consuming for me to use. The third criterion concerns costs: how much does this pathway cost? The cost might be based on what it takes to enter this pathway (for example, the cost of purchasing a CPAP machine) and/or what it takes to continue journeying on this pathway (such as the cost of monthly dues to be paid to a gym or health club).
The fourth criterion concerns access. How easy is it for me to enter this pathway and remain on this pathway? Do I need a prescription to obtain this drug? Do I have to be healthy in order to engage in this type of exercise? Perhaps of greatest importance is the barrier erected by that elusive (and invaluable) commodity called time. Do I have enough time in the day to enter this pathway? Do I only get more sleep in the evening by devoting precious time during the day in preparing to get this extended sleep? It is once again, something of a paradox: I need to expend time during the day in order to expand time when I am asleep at night.
I will suggest several ways in which time can be managed in a more effective way for us to get a good night of sleep. However, there will always be a trade-off—and this trade-off is particularly great for those of us living in the postmodern age of demanding work, unclear boundaries between home and workplace, and 21st Century complexity, uncertainty and turbulence. How can we sleep when everything around us is swirling in a state of chaos! Stay tuned. I have something to say about these conditions – as I have in other books I have written about our postmodern condition (e.g. Bergquist, 1993).
I wish to conclude this second essay by saying a bit about the Pathways to Sleep research project that serves as the foundation for this series of essays. I hope you will find the way in which I am proceeding with this research to be credible and that you will be able to make effective use of the findings I am reporting in these essays.
