I love early mornings. When I am blessed enough to wake up
before the sun, I find myself in absolute peace, surging with ideas for the new
day. I love the quiet mystery that seems to pervade everything, and I love the
prospect of returning to a deeper sleep than the one I had left after hours of
private, quiet, peaceful work time have been enjoyed. Oh that second sleep! There’s
nothing like it!
Today, I woke up around 5am and lay listening to the rain
that was falling in NY. Yesterday was my birthday. After a day of feeling alternately
grateful for the new year of my life, and feeling a bit bluesy about the passage
of time, I had a wonderful dinner with a few friends at my favorite Thai restaurant
downtown. I also had a cocktail made of tequila, lychee, elderberry, cranberry
juice, and fresh lime that was so refreshing and relaxing that I’m pretty sure I
slept deeper because of it. All day friends wished me happy birthday on
facebook, through email, and by phone. One friend even sang me Happy Birthday
on skype and I blew out a candle via cyberspace that she had stuck in a strawberry
as a birthday cake for me. The day was sweet in the simplest ways.
I think it’s wonderful that we get the calendar new year and
also the new year that begins on our birthday. New years may only be days on a
calendar, but they always symbolize new beginnings for me.
When I woke up this morning, one of the first things I did was
delete my facebook account. It is a temporary separation that has come as a
result of my owning the fact that it has become somewhat of a tic in my life. When
my mind wanders, I go to facebook. When I’m walking down the street and I feel
like being distracted, I go to facebook. When I post a new blog, I go to
facebook to share it there. Every “blank” moment is somehow underscored by
facebook. It is a tic similar to how I bit my nails as a child. It is something
quite empty and meaningless to me, a go-to for moments that aren’t filled by
anything else. Well, I have begun to feel that I’d like my “blank” moments
back. Where does your mind go when it is free? When I asked myself that
question, I didn’t like facebook as an answer. So at the beginning of my new
year I have let it go temporarily, for at least a month. I am curious as to
what my life will be like without it. Is there any part of your daily routine
that you have come to accept as “normal,” but that really doesn’t serve your
highest self? May you could join me and challenge yourself to give whatever
that is up, even if temporarily. Wouldn’t it be an interesting experiment to
see what you could be without it?
Back to my early morning adventure.
After saying goodbye to facebook, and doing a little reading
and researching, I decided that I’d like to bake cookies. I woke up my sleeping
boyfriend around dawn to see if he’d like to bake cookies with me. Yes, I did. He
took some convincing and soon enough we were in the kitchen sleepily measuring
flour and cracking eggs. What fun! I know this sounds insane, but guess what. When
I woke up after an amazing second sleep, I had fresh baked cookies waiting for
me in my kitchen. What did you have? It was spontaneous and fun and we got to
talk from a space that we don’t usually talk in…because we’re usually sleeping
at 6am! But seriously. Spontaneity doesn’t take much. You don’t have to bake
cookies at 6am (I know that really doesn’t sound like fun at all to some of
you), but is there any other spur of the moment activity of which you can take
part? A trip to a plant nursery, making a new dish, calling someone who you
haven’t spoken to in a long time? Our routines are easy to get stuck in. A
little spontaneity can remind you of why you live you the life you choose and
put a smile on your face when you might need an extra one. And it doesn’t take
much!
Baking cookies before dawn and swearing off facebook for a
while are two really small ways that I am kicking off my new year. You don’t
have to wait for your birthday or for January 1st to start a “new
year.” They can come any moment you choose to make a small change. Just try one
thing as an experiment and see how your landscape can change. It’s up to you.
Happy Birthday.
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