The wee hours

I’m up 40 minutes later than I meant to be.

To be fair, 5 in the morning is a terrible time to start the day, especially for someone who likes to be a night owl.

Problem is during the week morning is really the only time I can get certain things done, going for a walk, breakfast that’s not at my desk, and writing the blog.

I know my friend Brian writes in the morning, and I used to think he was nuts.

Actually I still do.

There is something to be said for some times being better than others. I used to write on my lunch break at work. The problem was that writing the blog became something that interceded into my thoughts during the whole morning, which could sometimes be disruptive to productivity. There were often interruptions, and even in the best of circumstances a cubicle is not the most creative of spaces.

I tried writing at night, which is actually my preferred time to work on projects like my book, but this always felt like it was cutting into time with my wife and time to relax.

So here I am at 5 in the morning, or this morning 5:40.

Thing is I kinda like doing something like this even though I can be miserable and tired until I get that first sip of coffee. I have this romantic vision of the writer that years of practical experience has yet to shake. I like the idea of staying up all night to work on a project, or going to a coffee shop in the wee hours of the morning, the few times one can be alone in a hectic lifestyle.

But in all those years in college when I stayed up til all hours of the night, I was never as productive as I am now, waking up at the ass crack of dawn. Something in my being fights the notion of driving to work and the dark, and arriving home in the same dark, but writing alone in the dark is somehow perfect.

It’s calm, and quiet, and though you wouldn’t know it from the boisterous fellow I am, I need that quiet time.

Time to write, think, pray, and give my time first thing in the morning to the thing I really want to be doing. It’s worth being tired later to have started the day right.

Now if only I can get to bed a little earlier…