Y’know when you’re lying on your side and a tear leaks out? Why does that happen?

I’m one of those people who reads in bed a lot, so the tear tends to trickle down mid-book and I have to wipe it away. I’m not sad or anything, so there shouldn’t be any tears.

But, according to Dr. Keith Roach, the answer is simple: it’s dry eyes. Eye Care of East Bay confirms this — they say that when we read we don’t blink as much, so our eyes get drier. I guess that makes sense; I don’t find myself blinking as much while I’m reading, although I do tend to move my eyes around more than I used to, since I have a particularly-annoying floater in my left eye that only shows up when I’m reading without my glasses. I do most of my reading in bed, like I said, and I do it without my glasses so I can lie on my side and not have to hold my phone over my head.

The solution for me is pretty simple — a tissue or washcloth at hand will get rid of the tear.

Oh, and, speaking of reading in bed, sometimes my body convulses when I doze off while reading. A few nights ago, I threw my phone at my own face — involuntarily — and was disoriented, wondering how it happened. I was alone in bed that night. It was just a weird thing that happens, I suppose.