In Honour of Early Mornings
Photo by Jannis Brandt on Unsplash
What is it about the early morning hour alone that I love? It’s dark, only Seymour and I are awake - actually, only I am awake, he is snoring quietly beside me. I have my elixir, I have my coffee, I write. It feels like stolen time, or secret time, absolutely my time. Time with myself and my thoughts and my heart. Time before the business of the day. Time before chores or work. Nothing to do but this. A quiet moment before any other voices have clamoured, demanding attention or thoughts. Time in the evening is never the same - why is that? Perhaps because by then my brain is full of the day, my mood affected by the events or triggers I’ve encountered. Whereas now, it is fresh, rested (or sometimes not that rested, to be honest), mine alone.
It’s easier to hear yourself in the quiet morning. Perhaps this is why meditation first thing is so beneficial. Perhaps this is why monks create a sense of first thing in the morning through silence all day!
We go about our day and, if we’re not careful, we bounce into the people and events around us, and let them determine our mood, our state of being. So much better to tap into our inner wisdom, give ourselves a little time to cultivate the mood and energy with which we wish to enter our day.
I am certainly not perfect about protecting this time. I go through spans of time where sleep just seems so much more desirable, so much more important. In the end, though, it isn’t. Some sort of morning practice, for me, makes all the difference.
What about you? What are the things or practices that make your morning your own?
