Main Character Energy Mornings
Nobody texts you at 6AM
The day starts with a gentle quiet. A soft rustling of a blanket being tucked away from a body blooming back to life after a sound slumber. Rays of sunlight seep in between tall, vertical buildings to light up an otherwise cold and dark flat.
The loudest sound in the morning comes from my coffee maker. The machine spurs out hot, pressurized caffeine into a mug that I carry towards a table. I flip open my forest green leather bound journal. The fountain pen nib makes contact with a blank page to verbalize new thoughts, nestled alongside musings from other mornings.
Mindful and focused, I am ready to face the day.
Treadmill of Time
My mornings didn’t used to be this Pinterest-esque. In university, I’d wake up to an alarm, bounce out of my bunk bed, and bolt straight to my accounting class. I’d be in the front row (the closest to the door), munching on a luncheon meat bun that I grabbed on the way.
The days would be filled with a quick succession of events: responding to my family’s texts, meeting classmates for group work, having meals with friends. My actions seem to always be in service to others.
Time kept running. I was on a treadmill, always in motion but staying in place.
Main character energy
My love for the earliest hours of the day began with jetlag.
I was awake at 4AM, with no friends awake and nowhere to go. No library, gym or cafe was open at the time. I was forced to sit alone with myself. No distractions, no expectations.
I could do whatever I wanted to do. It was an introvert’s dream.
Football player Lionel Messi does not play in the first five minutes of the game. He instead strolls on the field, deliberately ignoring the ball. He does this every match. After a few minutes, when he’s ready, he is in the game.
I don’t play football (or anything that remotely requires dexterity), but I immediately relate to the need to spend a few moments to figure out what the task of the day is.
I seem to exist alone in the mornings. Some days start in full speed: turning off at 6:20AM, putting on my sports bra, and catching a train to go for a pilates class. Others are significantly slower, and I can paint my morning coffee real quick before work starts.
Though the tranquility of my mornings oscillates, one thing is for sure: my mornings are for me. I am in service to myself.
Big main character energy.
Many books and productivity gurus tout the benefits of matching the circadian rhythm to when the sun is out. Which means that ideally, people should start their days in the morning. In reality, people’s natural body clocks, or chronotype, are an equal split between morning, afternoon and night people, per sleep expert Matt Walker.
All six Friends hanging out at Central Perk before work is complete fiction. My own friends would never. Instead, they are mostly night people. It makes me very fun to have at parties. I leave at 9PM, which coincidentally is when they are just getting started.
But that’s alright. When I leave early from my friend gatherings in the city, the exhale after closing that venue door always feels great. The cool air brushes against my skin as I walk back home, passing by loud, half-drunk party goers just making their way to the newest club.
At home, I’m greeted with tranquility once again. I enter a quiet stasis when I shuffle my way under the covers, ready for a full night’s rest. And tomorrow, the gentle morning will greet me again.
Big thanks to my Write of Passage friends and for your valuable feedback to this piece.
First time for me reading an essay that incorporated Lionel Messi and Friends. Such a vibe and such an enjoyable read. I feel refreshed. Thank you!
"Though the tranquility of my mornings oscillates, one thing is for sure: my mornings are for me. I am in service to myself."
Big same. Loved this one, Rebecca!