It's not that this concept was ever lost on me. I've known for some time that when one rises earlier in the morning, (or, in my case, before the afternoon), one is capable to getting more tasks accomplished.
What has kept me behind, I guess, is the fact that my sleep has not been restful since I was 16. So, I am attached to taking it easy. I hoard the time I spend reading, writing, sitting, thinking, doing nothing... because I'm in a perpetual state of catching up on sleep. I'm also one of those finicky sleepers. If my sleep is interrupted (I am a bit of a light sleeper, of course), I can't stay asleep. I fitfully toss in and out of heavy dreams that I won't remember for hours.
Knowing I had this experiment ahead of me from now until Easter, it wasn't as hard as it usually is to get up today (well, Anya sent me a chuckle on my phone to help get me out of bed, too). I changed my relationship with morning by giving myself no other option.
My cat was very confused. She followed me around, whining more than usual. I guess she assumed that, since I was up and getting ready, that I must be on my way out. I have to convince myself to get ready for things... and that tends to lead me up to the last minute (or 10 or 20 minutes beyond the last minute) before I should be walking out the door. I used to think I had "Late Syndrome" like most of the members of my family, but, now I think I'm a bad sleeper who, due to the sleep issue, is still learning how long it actually takes to do things.
I crawled out of bed around 8, brushed my teeth, and wandered out into the living room for breakfast. Not knowing exactly how my day would go (though I have a schedule, I have reasonably allowed for spontaneity), I decided to attempt my first contemplative act. I worked on an eating meditation from Thich Naht Hahn. His meditation involves looking at your food in front of you and seeing everything: seeing the seed, the sun, the water, the farmers, the growth process, the harvesters, the workers who create the final product, etc.
I had grits and kiwi (kiwi is not local, but, David bought it, so, I'm eating it). I had to do a little research to figure out how these foods are made. I learned that grits are basically bits of broken up corn and that kiwis grow on vines, but, the vines need reinforcement from a lattice gate or what have you to support the weight of their fruit. In nature, kiwi vines climb up a sturdy tree. While they can handle some cold, kiwis can't handle drastic, quick changes in temperature.
So, I tried to imagine someone planting many seeds. Then the glow of the sun and then the wind and rain. I see the first sprout. My mind creates one of those "grow-really-fast" camera shots and I see the sprout become either a stalk of corn or a limp, woody vine growing nearly circular, leathery green leaves. I imagine the corn stalks bulging and the vine budding both fruit and little flowers. I see workers with baskets, hear their shoes scrape the debris of drier leaves under their feet or mush the moist dirt around the vines. I watch them pick the corn or kiwis.
You get the idea.
Thich Naht Hahn also mentions that you should find gratitude for your food with the knowledge that others are going without. This thought hit me harder than I had anticipated... I imagined the workers themselves not being able to bring the food they harvest (for the likes of me) home with them to their families. I saw faces of people living near these farms, standing a mere few feet away from the fields...
Yeah. I can't do this every morning.
I will admit though... it makes me want to do something a little more proactive than clicking on the Hunger Site.
I got in the shower after I ate. I took care of the usual and then decided to tidy up the living room. I spent about two hours just picking up around the apartment... addressing the little things that pile up after a while. Then I had lunch, wrote a few emails, and prepared to go out into the world and run some errands.
I went to the front desk to ask about some magazines... some stranger has recently requested a subscription to Rachel Ray Magazine... but, they gave Rachel my address. I have been meaning to go to the front office for weeks now to ask them if this woman lives here in the neighborhood and just put down the wrong number... Alas, I'll have to go to the post office.
I went to the bank and the UPS store to send a package. Then I went to the nearby Bloom to get groceries so that I could try a new recipe or two from one of my new vegetarian cookbooks for dinner. I might never bother with Bloom again. I went out of convenient proximity, but, Bloom doesn't carry enough of the sort of products I'm comfortable buying (and their do-it-yourself scanner kept freezing on me). I ended up making another trip to Trader Joe's anyway to get a few things I needed.
I came home, had Caro over for dinner, and then I went out to a yoga class. At the studio, we affectionately refer to this Wednesday night class as "Death-by-Nancy," and I go anyway, to attempt to settle my discomfort with Vinyasa. However, on a night when I was hoping for some peace (not easiest to acquire in the dynamic, fast-paced practice of Vinyasa) I was pleased to find that my dear friend Stacy was teaching. While she works you hard, she also creates a meditative environment, a safe place to feel, to rest, to reach. I rejoined Caro after class for some tea and Frasier before coming home to sit with my cat and write.
I haven't been this productive since college.
We'll see how easy it is for me to wake up tomorrow. My day will be somewhat lacking in numbers of actual activities, though, I do need to go to work in the evening and teach. I'll check in every ten days or so to discuss the experiment.
Good luck to the rest of you experiencing your first day of Lent- one down and 39 to go! The pastor whose church I used to attend has some decent thoughts on Lenten goals: Click Me
On a personal side, Happy Birthday, Tristan! Sorry your birthday fell on Ash Wednesday this year... sheesh...
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