As a morning person, I attest to the superiority! 🤫 jk jk it's really mostly about that untouchable quiet and potential before all hell breaks loose (aka a typical day on earth in 2023).
That feeling of starting the day "behind" (accurate or not!) is exactly what I like to avoid! It's also kind of selfish—the morning is such a solitary time of day and I love giving that gift to myself.
I hope you continue to have the most lovely surprise early mornings and that you give yourself permission to sleep ALWAYS.
I've been a night owl all my life. It was pretty normal to go to bed at 12, 1, or even 2 most nights. The irony was that I would then wake up for my normal-working-hours job, crawl to the coffee maker with my eyes mostly closed, hissing at any natural light that managed to peek through the blinds, while lamenting to myself, "wHy Is iT sO hArD tO wAkE uP iN tHe MoRnInG?!"
But here's the interesting bit: I have two little ones and for 6 years now I've now been forced to wake up anywhere between 4:00am and 6:00am to help them do all of the things that they can't (yet). I can't say that it's changed my natural Night Owl disposition, but there is a noticeable difference in how often I now choose to go to bed by 10:00pm, and how much easier it is to wake up before 6:00am. And even though I would always rather be in bed, I can't help but notice how much I enjoy sipping coffee and watching the Sun come up while I contemplate expressing better-than-everyone-else moralistic platitudes.
In a way, having kids is like being forced to attend "Night Owl Rehab". You have to give up this one way of being so that you can become something better (Oops--that's a platitude). Every molecule in my body wants to fight the action of transitioning from horizontal to vertical, every single morning. But then I immediately remember that I get to enjoy my new ritual of enjoying extremely utilitarian coffee and spending time with favorite little people, and it's all suddenly worth it. Every time.
HAHA, night owl rehab. I can very much see this future for myself!
My sleep is already getting turned upside down by third trimester pregnancy sleep, which is pretty much circadian chaos.
Aw, I love your comment Brad, very thoughtful and gives me hope for my future! I couldn't resonate more with the absolute insane struggle of going from horizontal to vertical.
But you're right, once you break through, there's so much opportunity and cozy potential.
Even though I dread the sleep deprivation I honestly look forward to finally experiencing early mornings. :)
I'm a morning person these days! Janette gets up early for work, so I've gotten in the habit of getting up at the same time and having a whole bunch of free time before my work starts. Do I use that time wisely? No
Also, fall is the best season when it's fresh and new. But then winter's the best season once I've gotten tired of fall. Then spring is a refreshing change of pace. And then who doesn't like summer for a couple of weeks before it gets too hot and I'm looking forward to fall again.
Oh, nice! I had for some reason presumed you were a night owl, maybe because I feel like we have a lot in common and therefore I just project my entire personality onto you, lol.
You did say, "these days" though, which once again gives me the false hope that I'll ever change, haha.
I'm excited for the beginning of every season except summer! But that's just bcs I grew up without air-conditioning in SoCal, which honestly should be a protection in the Geneva Convention.
Haha! I'm a reformed (transformed?) night owl, so you're right. Maybe you'll become a morning person someday, too? Who knows what sort of sleep routine transitions a baby will inspire (inflict?).
I've already loaded up on Trader Joe's pumpkin products so it is indeed, officially, fall.
Back when I was gainfully employed, I worked in a high school and needed to be at my desk by 7:30 am. I have long known about myself that if I don't do things like exercise, pray, and meditate first thing in the morning, I don't do them at all. As a consequence, most days I would wake up around 4:30 to give myself a leisurely morning. I loved it and I loved the look on people's faces whenever it came up that I awoke that early. (This, of course, meant I was in bed by 9-9:30 most weeknights. Sometimes earlier.)
Now that I've retired and moved to Europe, many restaurants don't even open for dinner until 7 pm. It's a much later culture here. I generally get out of bed at 7:30 to walk the dog (the same time I used to have to be in my office), and I can get to sleep at 11:30 pm and still get a good 8 hours. I'm struggling to adjust - and I've been here for over a year.
Oh, wow! Isn't it wild how hardwired our unique circadian rhythms can be?
I used to try to fight my own rhythms (like many personality traits that are deemed inferior for whatever reason), but life is so much better when you're able to lean into who you naturally are.
Did waking up in complete darkness (4:30a) feel good? I struggle to imagine that feeling good, but I imagine it's amazing to watch the sunrise every day.
May I ask how you logistically ended up in Portugal btw, like, do you have citizenship?
I wish I could live in Southern Europe so baaaddddd.
Waking up in darkness felt amazing. For few years that I was a runner, I disliked running when the sun was up. But running in the dark of the morning was wonderful. And I can't really say I watched a lot of sunrises. Mostly, I was indoors moving slowly through my peaceful mornings..
As for the logistics of our move, it's not super complicated. No, we do not have citizenship. But, in 4 more years, we can apply for it if we want. We are living here as temporary residents now, but in order to get here in the first place, we had to apply for a visa. There are many different types for different types of people - students, people who are employed, people who are retired, etc. We do write a blog ;-) and all of this information can be found there. And I would be happy to chat/write with you about this if it would be helpful to you.
Oh man I would love to jog in the dark morning hours.
From my last name you can probably gather that I'm half Scandi, so I am quite fragile to sunlight, lol.
My face turns beet red and ppl literally think I'm dying when I jog in direct sunlight.
I do follow your Substack and really enjoy it!!! I probably should have just checked further down to older posts when you started your journey for the answer to my question.
That makes me hopeful to know you're there on a visa and can apply for citizenship!
I honestly used to love nighttime more, but at SOME POINT there was just this SWITCH, and that cool grey morning feeling became almost a NEED for me. To the point where now if it’s past 7 when I get up I feel sad that I can’t enjoy it in a leisurely way. Also love the nestling into bed with some relaxing lighting to read before 10pm... In other news, I may have turned into a grandma over the past few years 🤔
I want to pretend I'll ever experience this switch, but the night owl circadian rhythm I have might be hereditary because my mom and her dad have both always been night owls too who always struggled when they tried not to be.
But who knows! I hear a lot of ppl wake up earlier as they get older naturally. 🤷♀️
ONLY TIME WILL TELL! As much as I'm enthused by my transformation over the past few years, I do think being a night owl is needlessly stigmatized in the modern world, and I just want everyone to do what feels best for them! (Also I truly wish I could just switch back and forth with no repercussions, best of both worlds!)
I totally agree, the stigma is much more of an issue than the simple reality of being inclined to later hours.
It's wild how eager ppl are to criticize for no reason!
Also the obsession with calling ppl "lazy" for doing anything outside of the bounds of a regular 9-5 job. It's like... ppl... can we pause and reflect on this impulse for a second, mehbeh?
Funny you say that because I am still applying my make up from the floor (facing a full length mirror) and I'm wondering how much longer that's going to work in my highly preg state, haha.
I'm surprised I'm still sitting on the floor at all. Maybe not a genius life choice.
Now I'm just curious, what's your favorite season though!?
That makes perfect sense. Since I've always lived in CA I've never known a true winter so my opinions are unsurprisingly quite skewed on seasons, haha.
As a morning person, I attest to the superiority! 🤫 jk jk it's really mostly about that untouchable quiet and potential before all hell breaks loose (aka a typical day on earth in 2023).
And I agree, autumn is the absolute best 🍂
Haha, it's cool, I am (and have always been) legitimately jealous of morning people.
It really does seem like such a charming and wonderful way to start the day.
Especially because I wake up every day feeling "behind", which isn't necessarily accurate, so that's my shit to process, haha.
I hope you continue to have the most lovely mornings! Maybe when I get older I'll transition into a morning person??? *Dreams in desperation*
That feeling of starting the day "behind" (accurate or not!) is exactly what I like to avoid! It's also kind of selfish—the morning is such a solitary time of day and I love giving that gift to myself.
I hope you continue to have the most lovely surprise early mornings and that you give yourself permission to sleep ALWAYS.
I've been a night owl all my life. It was pretty normal to go to bed at 12, 1, or even 2 most nights. The irony was that I would then wake up for my normal-working-hours job, crawl to the coffee maker with my eyes mostly closed, hissing at any natural light that managed to peek through the blinds, while lamenting to myself, "wHy Is iT sO hArD tO wAkE uP iN tHe MoRnInG?!"
But here's the interesting bit: I have two little ones and for 6 years now I've now been forced to wake up anywhere between 4:00am and 6:00am to help them do all of the things that they can't (yet). I can't say that it's changed my natural Night Owl disposition, but there is a noticeable difference in how often I now choose to go to bed by 10:00pm, and how much easier it is to wake up before 6:00am. And even though I would always rather be in bed, I can't help but notice how much I enjoy sipping coffee and watching the Sun come up while I contemplate expressing better-than-everyone-else moralistic platitudes.
In a way, having kids is like being forced to attend "Night Owl Rehab". You have to give up this one way of being so that you can become something better (Oops--that's a platitude). Every molecule in my body wants to fight the action of transitioning from horizontal to vertical, every single morning. But then I immediately remember that I get to enjoy my new ritual of enjoying extremely utilitarian coffee and spending time with favorite little people, and it's all suddenly worth it. Every time.
HAHA, night owl rehab. I can very much see this future for myself!
My sleep is already getting turned upside down by third trimester pregnancy sleep, which is pretty much circadian chaos.
Aw, I love your comment Brad, very thoughtful and gives me hope for my future! I couldn't resonate more with the absolute insane struggle of going from horizontal to vertical.
But you're right, once you break through, there's so much opportunity and cozy potential.
Even though I dread the sleep deprivation I honestly look forward to finally experiencing early mornings. :)
I'm a morning person these days! Janette gets up early for work, so I've gotten in the habit of getting up at the same time and having a whole bunch of free time before my work starts. Do I use that time wisely? No
Also, fall is the best season when it's fresh and new. But then winter's the best season once I've gotten tired of fall. Then spring is a refreshing change of pace. And then who doesn't like summer for a couple of weeks before it gets too hot and I'm looking forward to fall again.
Oh, nice! I had for some reason presumed you were a night owl, maybe because I feel like we have a lot in common and therefore I just project my entire personality onto you, lol.
You did say, "these days" though, which once again gives me the false hope that I'll ever change, haha.
I'm excited for the beginning of every season except summer! But that's just bcs I grew up without air-conditioning in SoCal, which honestly should be a protection in the Geneva Convention.
Thank Gawd it's FAALLLLLLL FOR NOW THO!
Haha! I'm a reformed (transformed?) night owl, so you're right. Maybe you'll become a morning person someday, too? Who knows what sort of sleep routine transitions a baby will inspire (inflict?).
I've already loaded up on Trader Joe's pumpkin products so it is indeed, officially, fall.
I’m a morning person. I try not to be smug about it. But yeah, I feel superior.
LOL, honestly if I were a morning person I would absolutely bask in that glory.
The older I get the less socially acceptable my circadian rhythm seems to be, but it's okay, I can just write it off as being an artist.... right?
*flutters mystically into the distance*
Back when I was gainfully employed, I worked in a high school and needed to be at my desk by 7:30 am. I have long known about myself that if I don't do things like exercise, pray, and meditate first thing in the morning, I don't do them at all. As a consequence, most days I would wake up around 4:30 to give myself a leisurely morning. I loved it and I loved the look on people's faces whenever it came up that I awoke that early. (This, of course, meant I was in bed by 9-9:30 most weeknights. Sometimes earlier.)
Now that I've retired and moved to Europe, many restaurants don't even open for dinner until 7 pm. It's a much later culture here. I generally get out of bed at 7:30 to walk the dog (the same time I used to have to be in my office), and I can get to sleep at 11:30 pm and still get a good 8 hours. I'm struggling to adjust - and I've been here for over a year.
Oh, wow! Isn't it wild how hardwired our unique circadian rhythms can be?
I used to try to fight my own rhythms (like many personality traits that are deemed inferior for whatever reason), but life is so much better when you're able to lean into who you naturally are.
Did waking up in complete darkness (4:30a) feel good? I struggle to imagine that feeling good, but I imagine it's amazing to watch the sunrise every day.
May I ask how you logistically ended up in Portugal btw, like, do you have citizenship?
I wish I could live in Southern Europe so baaaddddd.
Waking up in darkness felt amazing. For few years that I was a runner, I disliked running when the sun was up. But running in the dark of the morning was wonderful. And I can't really say I watched a lot of sunrises. Mostly, I was indoors moving slowly through my peaceful mornings..
As for the logistics of our move, it's not super complicated. No, we do not have citizenship. But, in 4 more years, we can apply for it if we want. We are living here as temporary residents now, but in order to get here in the first place, we had to apply for a visa. There are many different types for different types of people - students, people who are employed, people who are retired, etc. We do write a blog ;-) and all of this information can be found there. And I would be happy to chat/write with you about this if it would be helpful to you.
Oh man I would love to jog in the dark morning hours.
From my last name you can probably gather that I'm half Scandi, so I am quite fragile to sunlight, lol.
My face turns beet red and ppl literally think I'm dying when I jog in direct sunlight.
I do follow your Substack and really enjoy it!!! I probably should have just checked further down to older posts when you started your journey for the answer to my question.
That makes me hopeful to know you're there on a visa and can apply for citizenship!
The above is more "big picture," this one is a bit more on the details side: https://open.substack.com/pub/lovefromportugal/p/getting-in
Here's a good post to start with from the "how things work" end: https://open.substack.com/pub/lovefromportugal/p/moving-to-another-country-is-a-lot?
I honestly used to love nighttime more, but at SOME POINT there was just this SWITCH, and that cool grey morning feeling became almost a NEED for me. To the point where now if it’s past 7 when I get up I feel sad that I can’t enjoy it in a leisurely way. Also love the nestling into bed with some relaxing lighting to read before 10pm... In other news, I may have turned into a grandma over the past few years 🤔
I aspire to your grandma ways, Lauren!
I want to pretend I'll ever experience this switch, but the night owl circadian rhythm I have might be hereditary because my mom and her dad have both always been night owls too who always struggled when they tried not to be.
But who knows! I hear a lot of ppl wake up earlier as they get older naturally. 🤷♀️
ONLY TIME WILL TELL! As much as I'm enthused by my transformation over the past few years, I do think being a night owl is needlessly stigmatized in the modern world, and I just want everyone to do what feels best for them! (Also I truly wish I could just switch back and forth with no repercussions, best of both worlds!)
I totally agree, the stigma is much more of an issue than the simple reality of being inclined to later hours.
It's wild how eager ppl are to criticize for no reason!
Also the obsession with calling ppl "lazy" for doing anything outside of the bounds of a regular 9-5 job. It's like... ppl... can we pause and reflect on this impulse for a second, mehbeh?
I imagine New Yorker Cartooners would be the funnest bunch to be around! 🤗
You know, it may be true *pats self on back*, haha.
It was honestly the NYer association that made me nervous before meeting any other NYer cartoonists.
I'm so resistant to pretension that I get anxious if I feel anywhere near a potential of it.
But you're right, everyone's just been SO NICE!!! Like no egos about it-- so pleasantly surprised!
Maybe I just need to chill out *scared of everything*.
looks like a fun hang!!!!
It really was!!!
One of these days maybe we'll venture to each other's respective coasts and NYer hang out too!
Even tho early motherhood's going to make me MIA for a bit, I am constantly plotting my return to NYC.
Funny you say that because I am still applying my make up from the floor (facing a full length mirror) and I'm wondering how much longer that's going to work in my highly preg state, haha.
I'm surprised I'm still sitting on the floor at all. Maybe not a genius life choice.
Now I'm just curious, what's your favorite season though!?
That makes perfect sense. Since I've always lived in CA I've never known a true winter so my opinions are unsurprisingly quite skewed on seasons, haha.