I love the idea of mornings; the deep quiet that is present when everything else is asleep. The dark stillness, so still in fact that the floor creaking beneath foot sounds as though it might wake the dead. The time to think and write and meditate; me time. But despite all this, I struggle with getting out of bed. You see, I love sleep. I might just love it more than anything else. I love the warmth and coziness that sleep provides. I love dreams and dreaming. I love the feeling of being protected and cared for that sleep offers. And while all of these things are great, I really do want to give mornings a chance to convince me that the crack of dawn is also worthy of my presence.
And so, this brings me to what I’m going to do about it. You have all heard of Project 365, yes? Document a year in your life by taking a photograph. Sounds easy, especially for someone like me who takes so many pictures. The trick for me is that they all have to be photos from my morning. Early in my morning. As early as can be, anyway. I’m not going to worry too much if stuff comes up and I don’t get my picture up right away because really, the idea is to gently encourage me to get up early. I want to learn to love getting up early (I know there are many of you who do get us early, so tips are appreciated. 
) and not just force myself to do it. This will become not only an opportunity for a photograph, but it will become a discipline; my practice.
And so while my first two days did not see my up as early as I’d like, tomorrow is the real deal. Fred is back to work as of tomorrow morning and so really, I have no choice. But while I can lie in bed until he leaves (7:45) I want to get up earlier…by…an hour? Yikes. I’m not sure I’m liking the sound of this, but we’ll see. Change is hard and this is a change that needs to be made. It’s part of the balance I talked about a couple of days ago.
I’m not sure yet how I’ll “publish” my photos. I’m considered adding a “365 Mornings” collection to my flickr page. I might just post them here; give them their own page. Perhaps both. We’ll see. For now, here is todays:
a friendly squirrel
Namaste,
Debbie
Sounds like you are one determined gal!! LOL. I like my sleep time way to much to try to get out of bed before 8am but I can definitley appreciate the beauty of those early morning hours
Every once in a while I’m up before day break and get to take in the orange glow of the sunrise coming over the mountain and it is so worth it 
I can’t wait to see what you capture through your lens in your morning hours!
Hugs
Rosina – If I could stay in bed until 8 every morning I’d love that. But Isaac is usually up earlier and so of course we all are. But Fred has been really good about letting me sleep in…everyday…because I just so dislike getting up. : ) I’m not saying that 6:45 will be the time I rise in the winter…but I love the thought of getting up at that time in the summer and doing my meditation and then heading out for a walk or run. What an amazing way to start the day. Beats lying in bed having your 4 year old beg you to get up. I’m so ashamed.
Oh…and I don’t promise my pictures will be pretty. (Again, in the summer that might be easier, early morning photo shoots in the garden.) but they will definitely document my early days. xo
Hi Debbie,
Just last night I was lying trying to work out how to fit in some meditation time each day and decided that it would have to be in the morning before my 2 cherubs are awake. I am finding it too hard to meditate at night. So I’m aiming for about 630 for about 15 minutes meditation, for starters. So, here goes! I’ll be thinking of you and your early mornings
But I think you have the short end of the stick because it’s summer here in Australia and *much* easier for early rising!
Julie
Hi Julie – Oh yes, the short end of the stick, indeed.
It was still pretty dark here at 7:30, when I got up. I couldn’t get out of bed earlier than that. But as the days get longer and the mornings get brighter, it will get easier. I have always done my meditation at night because of the fact that I’m not a morning person, but I find it incredibly hard to do that right now, in the winter, in the dark, in the cold. I am hoping that once I get into a routine of getting up earlier, I’ll be able to switch my meditation from evening to morning and come next winter it will just be what I do.
Good luck to you on your morning meditations. I’d love to hear how it goes for you. And thanks for saying hi. xo
I’m hoping to get up a little earlier each morning to fit in a little yoga. Here’s to us both rising early.
I think that the project 365 is a great idea, good luck!
thanks for your comment on my blog! There is a great site (thejoyofhandspinning.com I think) that shows how to use a spindle and how to make your own, which is easy and inexpensive (that is what I do). Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask me!
I think it is great that you can do a sitting meditation. I get so bored and need to be moving, so that is why I like gardening, spinning yarn and all my art that I do, it helps focus my mind.
Good luck with the spindle, I know you will get hooked!
blessings
Brittan
What a great idea! I plan to do Project 365 too, though I’ll be scrapbooking all mine. I have so many scrapbooks started and not quite done though, so my goal is to do each week’s lay out on the weekend after that week (since the weeks end on Friday), and at the end of the year I’ll have the whole thing done. We’ll see if it works out. I’m not sure how I’ll share mine either, but I may just post the lay outs on my blog each week. I’m not as ambitious as you. Fiona rarely gives me the opportunity to sleep in, but when she (or when Kris isn’t working and gets up with her), I value every extra second of sleep I can get lately. My goal with Project 365 is to finally really learn how to use the manual settings on my camera. I’ve read books, watched videos, read the manual, and I still rarely venture away from the P setting, though occasionally I’ll use the aperture priority mode. Time to venture into manual.
Have fun with it! I’m slow in the mornings too! Can’t wait to see a little of your day every day.