Morning Vibes

Each morning when I wake up and the weather outside permits I take my first cup of coffee for the morning right to the front porch, take a seat, and watch the sunrise in the eastern sky.

Sounds idyllic. I live in rural central Missouri so that is a fairly accurate description. But idyllic isn't the only reason I choose to begin each day like this.

For a long time I started each day planted in front of the morning news. Headlines. Politics. Commentary. Gossip. A little bit of weather. I was a consumer of all things breaking and exclusive.

And I have been this way for a really long time. I recall following presidential elections in the 1980s when I was in elementary school. I knew the name of the man in the White House when I was in first grade.

At 14, I walked into the local newspaper office and volunteered as an intern. Later, when my kids were old enough, I freelanced at my hometown newspaper, then moved on to a larger city paper. I knew issues, interviewed city and county government officials, even got to see a former president at a local university.

And then, I got overwhelmed. It was all too much. Still is. I found myself thinking the world was headed to hell in a hand basket. That's what happens when you get sucked in. Suddenly the world at large looks like a dumpster fire. Hope is lost.

So, I stopped. It was a little more than a year ago. I just shut the door behind me and walked out to watch the sun come up.

Of course, I hear enough. Staying completely disconnected is almost impossible. Plus I live in Missouri so the weather changes every five minutes. Gotta keep up with that.

What I don't hear is the disproportionate headlines that make the world seem so much darker than it really is. Instead I hear the birds sing in the morning, or the freight train rumbling down the tracks in the distance. Sometimes it's the rain and thunder. Sometimes it's the wind on a cool day.

And it reminds me that the sun came up again after all, and that the day is new. Once in a while I get a hearty wave from a neighbor. Even if the rest of the day is tough that early morning peace makes it easier to take it on.

Try it. Tomorrow morning shut off the news, pour yourself a mug of something warm and comforting, and listen. It's winter so it might just mean taking a seat at the kitchen table and gazing upward at the sky.

Unplug. Listen, even if it's only t o the rhythm of your own breath. Just stop. Shut out the noise and rest. I promise you won't regret it.