Why I Wake Early

By Becky Riley Olin, LCPC, MT-BC

Throughout these winter months I continued with my early morning runs each day, noticing and naming the moon phases, connecting with the fox and deer that always seem to pop up out of nowhere, and remaining in awe of the sunrise and the beautiful colors it brings to the morning sky. As I transition into March early morning running, I am especially grateful for the opportunities to witness and notice the emergence of spring alongside the completion of winter. The daffodils are blooming and the magnolia buds are swelling – I experience wonder at the risk they take in blooming despite the frost that awaits. I hear the sounds of the geese coming home, and it reminds me that we are all on our way home to a beautiful somewhere, on our way home to our beautiful selves. David Whyte writes, “If you only suddenly notice that everything has bloomed around you, you have already missed the essence of spring.” Spring is the emergence of what has been growing inside us alongside what has been growing in the outer world. We get to see this in full effect, all around us in the blooming and light of spring. Let us slow down to be present with the sensory experience and energy of spring alongside the completion of winter. Let us slow down to be present with what has been growing inside us this winter, ready to emerge and be born this spring. I leave you with Mary Oliver’s poem, Why I Wake Early, a reminder of the joy that can arise from noticing, witnessing, and taking in the beauty of spring.

Why I Wake Early
by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.