What is it about the full moon that brings out the worse
in us? Over the past week, I began to notice a change in attitude and behavior
with humans and nonhumans alike. Normally sane people are ranting and carrying
on over trivia matters, I included. My cats can’t seem to leave each other
alone. They strike out, whacking each other on the head, stealing food and
yowling at all hours of the night.
I never saw the correlation between behavior and the
cycles of the moon until I work in an assisted living facility. Residents struggling
with the realities of aging or for some, the cruel side effects of dementia,
you expect each day to bring on new and unexpected challenges. But it seemed
that in the week leading up to the full moon, the challenges became more acute
and uglier.
I woke up suddenly this morning; an outside noise startled
my dream cycle and for a moment I confused reality with dream. My dream was
about trying to find a way home. All of the available options: bus, rental car,
flying had pitfalls that made the trip difficult. Normally, I write down the
dream, interpret it and move on to the day’s activities. But today’s dream sticks
with me like those songs that you can’t shake from your head. When my mind gets
like this, I lack focus and everything irritates me. This morning when my
elderly cats once again refuse their breakfast and return five minutes later
begging for food, I growled at them. I see my neighbor who has been fixated lately
on my snowplowing skills; I mentally come up with a litany of sharp retorts to
throw back at her.
Can behavior fluctuate with the lunar cycle? I found a Scientific American article titled, Lunacy and the Full Moon (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lunacy-and-the-full-moon&page=2).
The article dismissed a number of theories that supported the position and
cited claims of illusory correlation (the perception of an association that does not in fact exist 1) and sleep deprivation as more likely the cause of behavior
change. Sounds reasonable, but the daily and monthly rotation of the earth
impacts water levels (tides), the seasons and wind direction. If the elements of nature can be altered by
the earth’s rotation, why wouldn’t the rotation impact behavior? I have lots of
questions, but few answers.
In less than 24 hours, the full moon will pass. The cats will
hopefully stop picking on each other and I will push that dream from my memory.
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