For reasons I hope are obvious, I often (O.K. - almost always) deny myself the pleasure of getting up really, really early in the morning.For the past ten days I’ve been waking a little before 5:00 a.m. Initially it was due to jet lag, but then I decided to ride it for as long as I could.
The world is dark and quiet and I get to witness it coming to life which lends a certain strange, unexpected, detached humor to the way my day unfolds. It feels like I’m watching a movie, maybe written by Fellini - which I’m not sure is a favorable portrayal of my life and the way I view it, but I must get back to the intended subject - ah, yes. Getting up early.
I see the sun rise (what a waste, to have missed so many) and my wish of needing more time is suddenly granted: at least two extra hours, which is nearly an extra day a week.
The potential is stupendous. Just think - what would you do if your week had an extra day?
I’ve got to do this more often.
7 comments:
I enjoy waking up early, but going to bed early is impossible. I wish sleeping midnight to 5am could be enough.
It's great to walk through the city when it wakes up - you should go to SF and watch sunrise from the Telegraph Hill. Unforgettable.
That is a great idea. I've been there at sunset, but not at sunrise.
There are two rewards, not one.
The setting of the moon and the rising of the sun. The former is magical, a connection with the powerful, mythical forces of nature. The latter is a slower process, tinged with the colors of the sunset, but in reverse order: scarlet, orange, peach, apricot, pearl. It brings you from the recesses of darkness and mystery into a world coming alive, lazy at first, languishing, breathtaking, then suddenly charged with imperatives: getting dressed, having breakfast, getting to work. I used to do all this pre-dawn stuff when I walked my dogs, and savored it enormously. It was pure poetry. And then I came to the last line. Maybe I should move from a downstairs room --in effect, a cave-- to an upper, sunnier level, in closer contact with the phases as the sun. Would my week expand into an extra day?
You should ABSOLUTELY move upstairs for so many reasons: it's warmer and you're always cold, it's sunnier and darkness is not good for you, and you don't have to negotiate those stairs which can be really tricky and not great for the knees and hips.
Your week might end up being longer but if it doesn't, it will be better.
Excellent idea!
I would use that extra day to sleep.
Ha! Pedro, I knew you were going to say that.
When I was attending music school, I never had the patience to wait around for a practice room. It seemed like so much wasted time. Then, I discovered that I could get any practice room I wanted, if I was willing to be at the building @ 6a.
On my walk from the dorm to the music building, I saw the most wonderful sunrise . Everything was still and quiet and no one else was around and the sunrise was beautiful and felt like it had been made just for me.
Since then, I've always risen early. On the East Coast, it gave me more time to digest the news and understand the trajectory of the day and work with Europe. On the West Coast, waking up at 4a seems like a necessity, just to understand what the day will be and bring.
And the sunrises are still just for me.
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