Why do we stay up late?

When it comes to staying up late, I am a bonafide expert. What is it about those fleeting hours between midnight and 4 a.m. that are so enticing? That make me feel like I can do anything, create anything, succeed at anything.

“It was three o’clock in the morning – the wisest and most accursed hour of the clock. But sometimes it sets us free.”― L.M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle

I know I will regret it in the morning that I stayed up so late. I’ll have to use concealer to cover up the dark circles growing under my eyes that should not be there at my age. And I will tell myself “I should not have stayed up, I will go to sleep before midnight tomorrow.” Then tomorrow night comes and I think, “oh just another thirty minutes. Certainly that won’t hurt.” And then the hours pass and I find the clock’s small hand nearing that four and I sigh in defeat. Thus the cycle continues.