Your Morning Hours

Many like to discuss morning “routines.”

But morning routines are more a chronology of specific events, than a true absorption of any kind.

Some exercise then eat breakfast.

Some “meditate” and go for a walk.

Some eat breakfast, then go for a walk.

Some read the newspaper, then go straight to work.

I don’t see the significance of discussing what one does, much less the order in which one does them.

I do have an idea as to why people like to discuss these things. Because societal man is a Categorizer. He likes to put people into boxes with printed labels.

Most of all HIMSELF.

You see, if “meditation” is a part of your morning routine, you are looked upon as forward-thinking, spiritual, and new age.

If you lift heavy weights, then you are a iron-pumping, physically fit, athletic sort of individual.

Man is not interested in anyone per se. He is only interested in the Category that you belong to. And in filing you under a category, he can begin to make inferences about you.

But let us forget about morning “routines” and discuss something that cuts deep to your core as a human being, shall we?

What if the question changed from, “What things do you do in the morning?” to “What sort of Experiences do you have, regardless of what you are doing?”

From soaping your body to brushing your teeth to washing your face to the configuration of your hand as you grab door handles . . .

From the one swift pull of the belt strap to your sense of balance as you put on your socks . . .

Do you experience it?

Have you noticed that if you raise one foot to cover it with a sock, the moment you have a single thought you lose balance? And if you have no thought at all, you could stand on that one leg forever?

When you put on the shampoo, do you knead it deep into the pores of your scalp? Or do you spread it amongst the superficial hair fibers?

When you brush your teeth, have you ever tried using your non-dominant hand?

When you first awake, do you sit on the edge of your bed and look at the world through the window? Or do you jump out of bed and head straight for the necessities?

And if you do sit on the edge of your bed and look at the world through the window, is there anything that you try to notice? Is there anything that you wonder? Or does the mind’s rambling grab you immediately as you open your eyes?

When you sit down to meditate, do you intentionally sit in a pose that befits a “meditator?” And when you are involved in this meditation, what exactly are you doing? And before you give me the reflexive response of “nothing,” please have a little more respect for the question.

Do you recognize that the bottom of your feet are flat? When you walk, the flatness of your feet so beautifully allow you to traverse the hardwood. Can you imagine if they were slight concave?

When you do walk on the hardwood, do you slightly stomp the heel? Or do you roll from forefoot to heel?

Have you noticed how heavy your car keys are? And how light your toothbrush is?

When you kiss your family goodbye, what are you thinking when you kiss them? Is it a kiss that strikes flush? Or does it just miss?

When you hug your family members one by one, is it a tapping sort of hug? Or is it the sort of hug you’d give them if this was the first time you’d seen them in 26 years?

You see, man has become accustomed to the idea that these are all Preliminaries. That these are chores that preface the big show.

But I think that you will readily admit that the place that you go to every day isn’t really a meaningful show at all. And it certainly isn’t “big.”

These things are not preliminaries.

This, my friend, is the Whole Of Your Life.

We prepare at home to go to “work.” And we prepare at work to go “home.”

And, as a result, we Live neither.

And if you think I’m speaking of “mindfulness,” you will not only miss the experience, but you will superimpose upon it a heavy does of frustration.

Life awaits us all.

But we are mesmerized by its silhouette.

My dear friend . . .

May you never miss another morning again.