In the moments when I wake...

I wonder what happens with other people when they emerge from their deep sleep and start their day.  A majority of people get startled awake by an alarm of some kind; I don't.  I start waking up between 5 am and 6 am and always get up around 5:57 am - give or take a minute or two.

First thing to figure out: What day is it?  The answer to that question can be somewhat elusive especially if it was a deep deep sleep or if I had had an especially exhausting day.

The dreams seem to pile on in that final hour, even as I drift in and out of sleep, doing their best to drag me back in.  They seem especially sharp, intense and compelling when the room is cooler - dreams are fragmented and foggy in the warmer months.

After I establish the day of the week, my brain thinks about a number of things in rapid succession:  what I did the day previous, what is coming up in the day ahead, what I might have painted and posted before going to bed, and what I will write about in this blog.  Yes, this blog is part of my strategic waking up program.

After I deal with my daily ablutions, I sit here, in my study/ walk-in closet, and take a tour of my social media universe before checking out the Fort McMurray Today.  If something of note has happened in Alberta, I flip over to the Edmonton Journal website.  If something has caught my attention beyond the borders of our province, I will have a quick look at the CBC and CNN websites.

Most days, I know at this point what I'm going to write about.  I then drift into the kitchen to boil some water to make my two cups of coffee in my French press.

That brings me to now, typing away on the day's musings with a steaming cup of coffee with half a teaspoon of brown Splenda and a bit of milk.

My quotidian mornings have gone like this for the better part of 6 years.  The practice/routine has made me a better writer and turned my mornings into a valuable part of my day.