I have no idea .
I have no idea why artists stay up late . I only know why I stay up late . I'm also sure there are many scientific analysis dedicated to this idea , but I just haven't read any of it .
Oh . When I said I know why I stay up late ? I don't actually know for sure . I have several theories .
1. Because of the nature of the hip hop dance life :
Hip Hop dancing happens mostly at night . Not just for me but for most people that I know . It is different for kids now , but when I was on a competitive dance team first learning how to dance , me and everyone I knew had a whole other life during the day time . Some dancers were students , some dancers had jobs , lots of dancers were student who had jobs . People had a life to live during the day so we all agreed to carve out hours in our nights to rehearse . These rehearsals usually starts at 8 or 9 but when it ends depends on how close we were to competition . A light rehearsal schedule is three times a week from 8pm to 12am and a hard schedule is seven days a week for three weeks from 8pm to 6am . That was the schedule when I was doing competitive dancing in the underground SoCal scene for seven years and also the usual schedule as I danced professionally for 6 years . Fifteen years of training hard and staying up late , my body thinks 12 am is just another lunch break .
2. Because of Coffee :
I like it , it keeps me awake . It's probably not the main reason I stay up late , but I'm sure it's not helping the cause.
3. Because of the Freedom :
This reason is less pragmatic than the other two but I find it most likely . It is probably true that my body and brain has been conditioned to be active after hours because of dance , and it's also probably true that the coffee residuals from 4pm is still hanging out in my blood vessels at 2am refusing to leave the club and want to keep the party going . But I really believe that the reason why I like being up late is because of the freedom .
Late at night , I can finally let my brain do whatever it wants to do . During the day time , business operating hours , I like many other people , have life chores to attend to . Besides already having work , school , family , or any combination of those things , there are so many different other life stuff that demand our brain power and attention . It is practically impossible to delegate any grey matter to focus on anything but getting to the bank before 5pm , going to the market before going home to make dinner , meet for a birthday , and so on and so on to an infinite amount of possible items on the to do list .
The beauty of 2am is that my options for things to do are cut significantly . Most business's are closed meaning errands will have to wait . Most people are sleeping or at least not around you . The world is darker and quieter and your mind can finally have some room to stretch out and breath a little bit . It can be a productive time where I am able to read , do an endless amount of editing or brainstorming or choreographing . It could be a time more free to be inspired , to surf the internet or wander aimlessly physically and/or mentally . This works best at 2am vs 2pm because there is nothing to interrupt a train of thought at 2am . Many creative will tell you about momentum , that once you have an idea that excites you , you have to ride that wave till it reaches shore and absorbs into the sand because if you fall off that wave due to a call from Time Warner Cable at 2pm about your stupid internet connection , that wave could go missing forever . or at least you will have to paddle out there for a long time before it comes again .
The world is asleep , and I can a little bit more free .
