I love quiet mornings. Waking up and making a cup of coffee and just letting life bloom and open slowly. There is something so pleasant and relaxing in it. It’s easily my favorite way to start the day.
But it can’t always be that way, can it? Sometimes we wake up late [for work or life] and bolt out of bed in a chaotic panic. Or maybe we set the wrong alarm and it goes off on our day off and we, subsequently, ‘go off.’ Or maybe we have that crazy neighbor with a fog horn for an alarm clock who wakes up the whole neighborhood along with them.
In 2016-17, I was waking up at 4:15am several times each week and heading straight to the gym. I’m certainly not fitness crazy, but I had accidentally adjusted to that time after taking my brother to the airport for a 3:30am flight. By the time I returned I couldn’t sleep so I decided to be healthy. And it stuck. Plus, it was a time of day I could fit in a work out. And in many ways it became my quiet morning. It would be dark still leaving my house. The gym was quiet that early and I could watch the day break through the windows and by the time I was headed home it would be light out. But only just. And trust me, I’m as shocked as anybody that I managed to do that, and enjoy it. I keep intending to start that up again at least a few days a week. It’s a hard thing to get started but making your morning meaningful and starting your day in a way that makes you FEEL GOOD seems like it should be an absolute priority. Even if it’s just a five-minute ritual of some kind. Wake up feeling good.
I know several people who roll out of bed and immediately put on gangster rap at top volume to start their day. I guess it kicks them into high gear and pumps them up for a productive day. I respect that. And I enjoy blasting my speakers as much as the next guy: driving down the road with my windows down and the volume at 100. But for me, first thing in morning, I crave a sort of softness.
I crave solitude and a quiet morning. Perhaps, someone to share a quiet morning with and someone to share solitude with. However paradoxical, I’m sure there are others who will know exactly what I mean. And I’m sure there are people who will know exactly how impossible it is to achieve that solitude when you live with others, particularly those who aren’t your like-minded significant other. You make it work when you can, but in many ways, it feels like such a disruption to the necessity that is one’s morning ritual.
If I were experiencing my ideal quiet morning, I’d have a patio or porch or garden of some kind. A place I could sit outside and maybe let my toes sink into the grass while my hands hugged my coffee mug. Or at least a place I could open the windows and let in the crisp, cool morning air. I like to hear the birds chirping outside. I need the sound of the wind carrying in the day and seeing the sun brightening a soft sky. Watching the day fade in like a film in slow-motion.
One of my other favorite things to add to my morning is some soft music. Nothing with words; and turned down, almost too quiet to hear. I mainly listen to a handful of songs from the Pride & Prejudice (2005) soundtrack. Those pieces soothe me and make me feel like I’m outside in a wind-blown field in the English countryside. It would probably do to add more songs to it, but for now, I’m happy with it. You can find the playlist here if you’d like to hear what I’m listening to on my quiet mornings.
And now the house is awake. I can hear the other sounds of the day seeping through the walls: alarm clocks and radios and roommates and neighbors and blenders mixing smoothies and lawn mowers growling and all. So, I guess it’s time to get on with it.
I’d love to know if quiet mornings are how you like/prefer to wake up or if you have some other way you kick off your morning(s). Feel free to comment and let me know!
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