Night Owls vs. Nightlifers

The Oxford Dictionary defines a night owl as “A person who is habitually active or wakeful at night."

Contrary to popular belief, most night owls do not choose the night—a genetic mutation chooses it for them. This mutation is linked to delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) which causes a night owl’s circadian clock to run two to three hours behind an average person’s internal clock. Scientists are not sure what percentage of the population is made up of night owls, but some studies go as high as 20%.

Without a doubt, I am one of the 20% with DSPD. In the past, I never dedicated much thought to the term night owl. After all, I do take full advantage of all the wonderful qualities the night has to offer, and I do adore owls. Yet the more time I spend writing the louder words scream in my ear, and pairing the words night and owl causes a ringing of redundancy I can’t seem to shake. Aren’t most owls nocturnal and aren’t most people aware of this fact? Like everyone else, I seem to have mindlessly embraced a term that is the literary equivalent of “waddling duck” or “lying politician.” Night owl is such a wasteful use of words—if you ask me.

So, if my affinity for the night requires a label, then I want a new one: nightlifer. It is straightforward and implies a time free of guilt for one to do what one wants to do as opposed to the time when one typically does what one has to do. I hope most agree, especially those who seem to get the most out of life while everyone else is sleeping. As for those who thrive on sunlight, I have a term for you too: daylifer. Together, the terms have an obvious yen and yang quality, which is important, because the world needs both types of people. And as much as I appreciate the typical daylifer's conventional achievements, pro-activity, optimism, nutritional maturity, and overall better mental health, this website is dedicated nightlifers—the often misunderstood and underappreciated slice of humanity that spends more time doing and less time dreaming.

But daylifers please keep reading. Nightlifers know who they are. It is everyone else that seems to be so perplexed by us.