It wasn’t until this year that I began to understand the joy of mornings. A chronic night owl with occasional insomnia, I looked at any day requiring a 7 a.m. wake up as another dubious battle to be waged.
I got a foot in the door, or I guess out of the door, with purposeful mornings this year. For the second half of this year I didn’t miss a week of running at least two mornings. The other mornings, I spent getting a head start on work, or sifting through my often neglected Google Reader subscriptions. It was a start.
In 2013, I want to make mornings more meaningful.
More reading. And writing.
The old school reader in me still loves thumbing through pages, the smell of books, the gloss of magazines. I think I need more book store and library trips to replenish my stack of actual print material. If I want to be sure I take the time I need to write, it must be in the morning, before the barrage of email and urgency of work takes over for the day.
Better breakfasts.
Once I get invested in tasks in the a.m., I can get lost in them like no other time of the day. I get my best work done in the quiet of my home before the sun rises. Sometimes I get so focused, I lose all track of time and forget to eat breakfast until it’s too late. I’d like to explore some make ahead breakfast recipes.
Let’s get physical.
On the days that start with fresh air and getting the blood flowing, I feel more alert and focused for the rest of the day. I don’t want to run every morning, but would like to walk my dogs on the off days.
Creative mornings.
I was really inspired by the inspiration board exercise and the rush of ideas that came afterwards. The next day, I woke and made a mini painting. I won’t always have time for a major project, but a few doodles should be manageable any morning.
Why the shift?
I’m not sure what happened. I may owe this shift to this year’s focus on my health. It could be that my workplace adopted a freedom policy. For the first time I had no guilt about either sleeping in, or getting up early and designing my mornings to be just the way I like them. Maybe it wasn’t the morning so much as the rushing around and commuting that I resisted all of these years.
I’ve just scratched the surface with mornings. In 2013, I’m looking forward to filling my early hours with more purpose.
This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What new traditions do you want to start this year?”
Time is a tricky thing. What else ticks on so infinitely on the one hand, yet on the other is preciously scarce. For the individual, there is but one fixed allotment.
Chris Mixson is a dear friend from my college days. By day he practices water law and Indian law in Reno, NV. And when not slogging through legal research he is likely to be brewing beer in his kitchen or making his way to Lake Tahoe. His favorite moment of the year?
Erin Becker and I worked together when I lived in Chicago in 2001-05. She now lives in Portland and is working toward a bachelor’s degree in psychology, in hopes of becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist. In addition to asking her about her moment, I also wanted to catch up on what was going on in her world these days. Her response:
April Duncanson is my long-time bestie. She lives in Philadelphia, knits up a storm and thoroughly enjoys cooking vegan delights.
Edwin Castillo really surprised me with his answer. I really thought he’d fire back with his favorite meal. I mean, random food pic texts from him are not out of the norm and he has a bigger appetite than anyone I know. He not only takes beautiful pictures of food, but he draws a cupcake on his credit card slips to leave behind for his server AND takes a picture of that. When my husband and I head back to Chicago for a visit we always get together to share a good meal. Edwin’s favorite moment?
