Why I Wake Early (pace Mary Oliver)

My day starts at 4:30 AM.

Yeah, it’s early, but not if I get to bed by 7:30 (along with all the other 3 year-olds).

But I don’t.  I stay up. I watch crap on TV (that I truly enjoy) or I read (just finished Trust Agents by Chris Brogan of crisbrogan.com (awesome book!) until 10 or 11.

My Zen alarm clock (this one) begins to glow softly at 4 AM.  When the birds inside the clock start to chirp at 4:30, I turn it off, shuffle downstairs, pour my coffee which is waiting for me (“Delay Brew” is genius) and sit in the dark dining room and read by the blue light of the laptop. I check on the world.

I check the headlines and read my favorite bloggers.  Sometimes I’ll post a status update on Facebook.  Some mornings I might even Tweet.  After the first cup (usually Starbucks Sumatra) I am alert enough to write an email or two.

I eat some peanut butter (off a spoon) and it is at this point that the dog becomes interested in me.  If I’m feeling magnanimous, I will put some peanut butter on another spoon and give it to her.  She takes it under the table and eats it.  I like the sound her teeth make on the metal of the spoon as she tries to chew the peanut butter off it.

By 6-ish I am flying out the door, the motion detector lights guiding my  way to the garage.  I make sure I don’t forget to push the garage door opener before I back the car out.  This I check off as my first “Brilliant  Move of the Day.”

What happens at the studio I have already written about here.

By 7:30-8:00 I am back home, ready for breakfast.  I have already taken care of my body, my mind and my spirit.  Nothing in the whole wide world could happen in my day (and I mean NOTHING) which could in any way, shape or form take that away from me.

I feel blessed.

And that people, is why I wake early.