Sunday, February 7, 2010

Monkey Mind Ramblings: Early Bird or Night Owl?

I've been feeling rather edgy lately - rather like this frenzy of these color stix - just all over the place. Maybe it's the last grasping gray claws of Winter that are setting my mind on edge - or maybe it's just that I am just trying to 'birth' some ideas. Maybe there is some gris gris energy in the stars that is setting me off?  I need to make a decision about some back surgery - maybe subconsciously that's what is making me feel "off my game". I dunno - but I wish it would pass. I prefer to feel a bit more grounded.   All of my desire for color is still in place but I am not sure just how I want to get the colors down. Paper? Cloth?  I'll probably just take my own advice to "just start somewhere" - that usually does the trick and then I can proudly say that I do take my own advice! How unusual!! I am late with some journal work - so I guess I better start there.

Late into the night yesterday my thoughts were doing their usual monkey mind rambling and I began to think about early birds and night owls.  Some people love the quiet of the early morning hours. I prefer the stillness of the night. I think it's really the same aesthetic. The other night I woke up in pre-dawn hours and listened. I always sleep with an open window even in the dead of Winter. I feel like I can't breath otherwise! I listened to the silence and could envision a fox shifting position in it's den. The crows waiting to wake everyone up with their raucousness. Chickadees snuggling in their nests. I listened to the utter stillness that one can only find in the blessed quiet of rural areas these days. Finally I heard the low call of an owl - which is what I think I had wanted to hear all along. The messenger of night-time stillness called out - saying that all was well in the nighttime landscape.

I have longed puzzled if our preferences for being an early bird or a night owl are born. I have preferred the late night ever since I can remember - and it seems to me that Mother told me that I preferred that as an infant as well. My spouse and dear friend are both consummate early birds - and claim that they too have always been like that. Well, I think my firend may have not been when she was in her 20's - I'll have to ask her that! I wonder if anyone has done any research on this silly little tidbit of our genetics. Predisposition or not? What say you? Which are you? Why do you like your early morning or late night?

4 comments:

Sandra Wyman said...

Definitely a night-bird, Marie - at least in winter (though maybe I'm turning into a cat - put me in front of a warm fire and I can drop off easily). In summer, however, I wake early - and I feel better too. Have just got myself out of the awful January doldrums which have been bad this year! Cats would say hi if they could stay awake long enough.

karoda said...

most of my life i've been a night owl for creativity and fun and deep thought but for prayer and meditation give me before the break of dawn and the stillness of mornings! early bird if i'm listening and taking in, night owl if i'm emoting and producing.

Laura said...

Hi Marie,

Great question!

I'm an early-bird, for sure. I jump out of bed at five and charge right into my day - without caffiene, even. I'm a morning exerciser, too, preferring to get everything done before 10 am.

But late afternoon and evening have never been productive hours for me. I could easily fall asleep at 8:30!

It was the opposite when I was younger, though. I loved staying up late and sleeping in.

Oh, right. WHY I love early morning... I think there's something about the peace and calm of a blank slate. Anything can happen today.

WildmanDesigns said...

I used to be a morning person, before having a child. But now, I seem to get the most creative work done at night. My hubby and son are both morning people, so the house is bustling until they leave for work and school.

I like the night as I sit in my studio listening to my husband and son breathing, and the ticking of our mantle clock. (We have a very small house!)

Casino Bonus