Things I Googled at 2:00 AM

It’s 2:00 AM and I’m Googling whether cats can get bored of their humans. Not because anything happened, mine are both asleep and content, but because I suddenly remembered an article I saw three weeks ago and never read.

One search turns into ten. I jump from feline psychology to the side effects of vitamin D overdose, to whether I should be worried that my birth control pills got a little warm on holiday.

I don’t always know what I’m looking for. I just know I’m not ready to sleep.

It’s not that I’m not tired. I am. And I sleep well, most nights. But some nights, I wake up because a cat wants to lie on my chest, or because I forgot to drink enough water, or because something someone said eight years ago starts echoing in my brain like it’s suddenly important.

So I open a tab.

I Google things I already know the answer to, just to feel certain again. I Google people I haven’t seen since group 3. I still don’t know that boy’s last name. I think he moved back to Suriname.

I Google dreams. I Google politics and get bored halfway through. I Google what to do if war breaks out, what goes in an emergency kit, and how long you can survive without coffee. (Answer: not long. Definitely not happily.)

When someone makes a bold claim at dinner, I pretend I believe them, but end up fact-checking it two hours later in bed. I’m not proud of it. But I’m not ashamed either.

Some people meditate. I ask the internet if grapes can ferment in your lunchbox.

I don’t even use an agenda. My brain doesn’t work that way. I just trust that the right drawer will open when I need it, and weirdly, it does. Something buried weeks, even years ago, resurfaces. And then I’m off again, following the thread, turning questions into comfort.

People say we rely too much on Google or AI. That we’re losing the art of asking each other. But I think it’s both. I still talk to people. I still ask weird questions out loud. I just also like having a search engine that won’t raise its eyebrows.

Besides, if knowledge is power, then curiosity is the little glitter-fueled engine that keeps me up at night.