The Magic of Mornings
Growing up, I was up with the sun, too curious to oversleep and miss out on something happening in the world. I remember vividly when Momma (my mom’s mom) would stay over. She was always up on the phone chatting with all of her friends by the time I wandered down the hall, bright and early before anyone else was up. When I stayed with my Grandma (my dad’s mom) and Pop, it was a running joke about how long I had been lying awake waiting to hear one of them in the kitchen, so I knew I could come out of the spare room without waking them up.
I would constantly be up when my dad was making coffee before leaving for work at 5:45 a.m. I would be watching TV waiting for the bus while my sister climbed out of bed with six minutes to spare. There were weekends when Dad would have to work and would tell me to go back to bed, but instead he would tuck me up in bed with Mom and we would watch the morning shows.
When my brother worked night shifts at the warehouse across the street, I would meet him in the mornings for our crossover breakfast-dinner time. We would catch up or watch a show together before I went to school and he went to bed.
Some of my favorite memories growing up were from that peaceful time when the world was slowly waking up and everything felt like a dream. There was something special about that sleepy time where you get to enjoy being alone and not feel rushed or maybe just catching an extra minute with your people that you might not get during the daytime.
I still find early mornings magical, getting up for coffee and having a few minutes of book time or making it to the gym before work, giving you that accomplished and awake buzz to get your day going. Chatting with your people about what your day and weekend plans look like, sometimes even quickly babbling over the weather and wondering if it might snow today since you felt the chill in the apartment waking up.
Lately I’ve realized that I’ve been missing those moments. I get caught up on the day at night by rambling through the days worth of social media and texts. I find myself catching up on favorite shows and before I know it, it’s midnight and that 6 a.m. alarm feels too soon and too early.
Early mornings are important to me, and I’m setting a goal for myself as I write this to start waking up a little extra early in the mornings a couple days each week to feel that little joy in the slow, productive, peaceful start to my day. As an adult I have found that one of those easy and slow moments is an early Saturday morning wake-up, where you try a new coffee shop in town and wander around the little shops. This lets us enjoy a time where you aren’t rushing and you have nowhere in particular to be. We get so caught up in life and the chaos that sometimes we forget to slow down and enjoy the little moments. Seeing people on social media doing all of these things we wish we were doing makes us feel like we’re falling behind when really, we are exactly where we are meant to be.
Sometimes just being conscious of where you are and how lucky you are to be here and getting these little moments is a reminder we all need to slow down.
As some of my favorite people say- we deserve to be happy. We’rejust living a silly life on a silly little rock floating through space. Challenge yourself to be present, take pictures, write love notes, slow down, drink your coffee, and read your book. You only get so many days of the things you love, so make sure you truly experience them.
