A Liberal Dose of Clarity
Ave!
Only recently have I discovered a certain joy that accompanies waking up early. By definition of early I mean to intentionally dispel the misconception of eleven o’clock as an early start and instead focus on that renewed time of morning before the strike of seven. It is not nice to leave warm sheets and fumble about for our slippers before our toes become small soliders of frost, but the chilling cool is merely a part of the experience. Just like the fluidic azure and indigo of twilight or the Northern Lights of Alaska, the early morning experience is as close as we can come to a one-step spiritual detox. And it comes to you free and without the cares of the day impinging upon you.
Unlike many of the other promises for ‘positive change’ I have strived to maintain, this habit at first it is more a pain and a trouble than it seems. I am one of those people who desperately craves an extra hour of sleep in the morning but can only afford an extra five minutes before needing to force myself into a state of waking. On the bus or train to work and university for example, I am assessing and rehearsing past conversations, wrongdoings and mistakes from the past while others complain about their colleagues or lecturers.
In the long run however it is not so much a chore as it is a shaking of the cares of the day past; shaking away the dust from the land of sleep and straining one’s eyes to the eager new sun. It accompanies a sense of holistic good feeling that collects at the sinkhole - the same good feelings from charity and exercise and actually managing to break a bad habit. But above all, there is peace in the stillness of the early morning that can only be held for a brief period but is utterly captivating and inspiring. Best of all, it can be found anywhere.
I admit it: I have blatantly cheated. I discovered this pivot of good feeling far from the cityscape when boarding in Kanimbla Valley, several hours west from Sydney until the endless tar road gives in to its recalcitrant brother, the rocky dust trail. Swerving some many bumpy miles through the shallow mountainous heights of the farther reaches and encircled by a treaty of pine and eucalypt elders, naught but the sound of silence rings in your ears and for another hundred you can spot only pastures and ant mounds. And it was more by accident and restlessness that I awoke to greet the subtle kiss of morning air.
At this time I was reeling from that sheer sensation of fatigue and drain from the effort of examinations, and desperately afraid I had lost every ounce of creativity and inspiration that once blessed me. It is that sort of vacancy, an empty feeling of lacking from far too little play until a few hairs of grey do appear. In that brief early morning period it was impossible to recall what heavy feelings once burdened my heart that I might be able to challenge them with a clear mind. It was impossible, above all else, to feel a great impeding sorrow - there simply feels as though there is too much time ahead of oneself in that day to come, that all things can be sorted out with an illusion of excess of time.
From this idea it should be noted that we are already equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary to lead ourselves to any success we desire in a chronicle not measured by linear time; often we are merely perceptually clouded or caught in a stasis of old ideas and behaviours, clinging to old towers of knowledge which are clearly failing if only to avoid the pain of breakdown.
Whether it is the enlivening quality of early morning, the ethereality of twilight or calmness of evening, sometimes it is utterly rejuvenating to spend a moment of meaningful reflection of the past and what events were necessary to occur in order to lead us here, as well as careful thought into the forces at work in the present. Often it is our thoughts of doubt that are the only barrier to a promotion at work, the endless, self-directed requests of a friend that leave us feeling depleted and worn or even something as simple as an uncomfortable bed that is the source of an intermittent headache.
In essence we are not simply talking about waking up earlier: we are identifying a need to think ‘outside the square’ and realise that our perception is always limited.
For example, we are all capable at some stage of undergoing the broad spectrum of emotions and experiences privy to human experience, and we undoubtedly aspire to surmise all of these obstacles of the material and spiritual worlds in order to attain a sense of wholeness. For those locked in the rat-race for example, rising to the ranks of a managerial position is a grateful thing but we never stop reaching higher. Is it really worthwhile believing that someday all of our aspirations will be realised and we will celebrate those days of our retirement lived in absolute ecstacy? Absolutely not.
With a fresh breath from the air newness it is possible to challenge the impossible and bring it to the level of a mere trifle. It is simply a case of identifying and applying change to perception where and when it is needed.
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