Last night, after several hours of hauling wheelbarrows full of rain-soaked mulch around my garden in the muggy heat, I finally called it quits once it was too dark to see. I cooled off with a shower beer and slid into bed between luxuriously soft linen sheets. As I was drifting off to the sound sleep only physical exhaustion can afford, I wondered what I should write about for my blog this week. Adjusting my pillow, it hit me: my pillow! (Not MyPillow… though that will get a sizeable mention here, too.)
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions”
It is true that for years I had a surprisingly uncomfortable, lumpy foam pillow that was advertised to be the most comfortable pillow I would ever own – so comfortable, in fact, that it could cure insomnia, sleep apnea, and other ailments including fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis! [1] My mom bought everyone in the family a MyPillow one Christmas after seeing constant ads for it on a certain cable news channel. My husband stopped using his almost immediately because of how uncomfortable it was and regularly encouraged me to get rid of mine, especially after Mike Lindell’s continued involvement in spreading misinformation about the 2020 election. [2]
Image credit: [3]
Wearing my MBA hat, it has been fascinating to watch the impacts of Lindell’s actions, particularly how his individual choices have damaged his business. Now, granted, the pillow was not a great product to begin with. To say nothing of the multiple lawsuits the company has faced over the years for false advertising claims and other issues related to the sale of their product, [4] only one third of Consumer Reports testers said they would actually buy another one in the future. [5] But because of his choice to publicly double-down on unfounded conspiracy theories, he has seen stores pull his product from their shelves, [6] has been forced to make good on a promised $5M to a cyber expert who proved that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, [7] and is now on trial for defamation of Dominion Voting Systems. [8]
As for me and my MyPillow, yes, it was uncomfortable, and no, I didn’t like supporting his business, but he already had my (mom’s) money. Throwing the pillow away wasn’t going to do anything except force me to buy a different pillow – and even though it would be from a more reputable company, it would still create a demand for a new product, most likely containing a lot of synthetic materials. I have more than enough products in my house made from various types of plastic, and while I’m doing my best to buy only natural fiber materials these days, it’s not always possible (or cheap) to do that with clothes and home goods.
If I can’t find something made of natural materials, I’ll try to thrift a second-hand synthetic version (though I’m not going to thrift a pillow). If I can’t thrift it, I’ll forego a new one and use what I’ve got until it is positively non-functional. Knowing me and knowing this – let’s call it an adorable quirk… or a well-reasoned eccentricity – my husband knew he was going to have to take matters into his own hands if he wanted the dreaded MyPillow out of our bed.
Image credit: [9]
Field of Dreams
For two wonderful years (nearly twenty years ago) I experienced the best sleep of my life: on the floor, on a thin futon, with a small, hard pillow full of beans. I waxed poetic about “the bean pillow,” often when talking about Japan, and I would cheer whenever we found one in a hotel room on vacation. My husband didn’t understand the appeal, even though I explained how well they supported your neck and head and kept their shape after you adjusted them. In addition to being incredibly comfortable, they’re also environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic. [10] These pillows traditionally used dried beans or buckwheat hulls, but you’re more likely to find synthetic materials in hotels these days. For example, my pillow in Tokyo on our last trip felt like it was filled with 1cm cuttings of drinking straws.
But despite my constant nostalgia for Japan, and despite my ongoing attempts to decrease my back and neck pain, [11] it never occurred to me that I could address both issues with one product. It did, however, occur to my husband. On our anniversary this year, before I presented him with a set of bronze-related gifts, he handed me a very large and very heavy box. Inside this box was the largest buckwheat pillow I had ever seen. [12] The Japanese original has about the same footprint as a sheet of paper and is a few inches thick; what Christian got me was massive and fit for a queen (pillow case, that is). I was shocked and unsure what to do with a pillow of that size, since the increased volume meant a lot more flexibility and range of motion compared to the roughly solid one I use at my Japanese parents’ house.
It did take a little getting used to, but once I got the hang of positioning it for proper support of my head and neck (and making a little divot for my ear), I was in love. It also meant a lot to me that he got something all-natural – in addition to the buckwheat hulls themselves, the case is 100% cotton. And because it’s larger, I can also use it as back support while writing on the couch (as I am right now). The only thing to keep in mind is that, since it is made of organic material, it needs some special care. For example, in order to keep the buckwheat hulls from getting musty, it is important to air out the pillow occasionally. The buckwheat hulls can’t get wet; if they do, they must be removed, spread out, and dried so they don’t mold. In really bad situations, they can be replaced with new. [13]
Image credit: [14]
And aside from one situation that involved Christian’s cat knocking over a full glass of water onto my buckwheat pillow while I was away (I swear, she’s still trying to kill me after all these years), it has been a wonderful experience. As my friends and I like to joke at medieval reenactments when we’re making use of all-natural materials (as the entire world did before the 20th century) and getting better results than we would with modern, synthetic materials, “wow, it’s like these people knew what they were doing!” [15] That said, given the prohibition on moisture in this pillow, I’m sad to say that I won’t be taking it camping with me. But as long as I’m in my own bed, I now have the most comfortable pillow I’ll ever own.
~
Have you tried a bean or buckwheat pillow? What do you or don’t you like about it? If you’re transitioning to natural materials at home, I’d love to hear about your experience.
Thanks for reading – and sweet dreams!
[1] https://www.consumerreports.org/my-pillow/my-pillow-health-claims-lawsuit-settlement/
[2] https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/05/jan-6-mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-subpoena-526582
[3] https://takaokaya-kyoto.com/blogs/about-product/the-benefit-of-buckwheat
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Pillow#Lawsuits_and_settlements
[5] https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/pillows/should-my-pillow-become-your-pillow-a2963191031/
[6] https://apnews.com/article/stores-drop-my-pillow-7cda3dffd77c1386ebb75f16924ee02c
[8] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgeg8ez54ndo
[9] https://www.reflectionsenroute.com/japanese-soba-buckwheat-festival/
[10] https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8019733/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-a-buckwheat-pillow/
[11] https://radicalmoderate.online/dowagers-hump/
[14] https://www.feedipedia.org/content/buckwheat-fagopyrum-esculentum-blooming-field-fukushima-japan
[15] https://radicalmoderate.online/plastic-free-july-corona-edition-part-4/
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