Ugh. I love this so much. I've been wanting to start morning pages as well. It's just that once I'm up at 7.30 I'm not going to get that nap till it's time to go to bed at night, and those bits of delicious sleep are so precious.
Oh I totally understand that! The biggest challenge of this morning ritual is making sure I get enough sleep. I still need to prioritize my physical health, so sometimes it’s just not in the cards to wake up that early every day. It’s a process, and sometimes life gets in the way. I guess the idea is that it’s a place—or a state—I’m always trying to get back to. Thanks for commenting Indraneil!
Jacob, I have been getting up at 0430 since I was a kid on the farm helping with the morning chores before heading to school. This transitioned well into a life in the Navy. Now, as I get ready to transition once again to a new season of life I am looking forward to these early morning times for quiet, reflection, and writing. I just started reading Anne Lamott's book yesterday. I already have so many tabs, underlines, and other marginalia and I am only a chapter or two into it. Such a rich and rewarding read.
Thank you as always for sharing and being here Matthew 🙏🏻I appreciate and look forward to your insights. It’s interesting because, unlike you, I lived a very undisciplined life for a long time and usually stayed up very late. I think that’s also why I find mornings so special: they’re new to me in many ways! But I’m happy to knew we both share an appreciation for this special time in the morning. Meanwhile, very excited to hear your final thoughts on Bird by Bird. One of my absolute favorites, and I’ll probably be writing on it at some point.
I am also an early riser and love my morning riturals, which include reading articles and notes on Substack over coffee, feeding the birds and squirrels in my front yard, listening to bird songs and then shutting the sounds of modern life.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What is often perceived as chaos is just life. We humans are not naturally well-ordered machines. We learn to be that way through the institutions of our society, in particular the educational ones.
What I am intimating is that we can learn a lot from our young children, especially toddlers. You are in an excellent position now. My youngest is 16, very bright and academic, but perhaps too certain about many things. He lost that sense of wonder he had when younger. It might return later. Hopefully.
I still have it at 66. But it needs to be nurtured.
Thank you so much for sharing Perry, and you’re right: the sense of wonder needs to be nurtured. No better teacher for that than my toddlers—that’s for sure. It’s something I’m trying to recover in many ways after spending so long in academia and in an institutional environment. I appreciate the reminder 🙏🏻
So much of my best work is done -- not because it's especially great but because it gets to the heart of my creative self -- during this same time. I've never heard to this practice referred to as the Splash State, but I think that will stick with me.
I like to include a walk in this period as well, usually sunrise at the lake at the front of our neighborhood, if I can time it right. Sometimes I can bring my coffee, pen, and notebook with me there and write.
My kids have more energy than I can even comprehend when they wake in the morning (though my preteen daughter's waking habits have started to trend towards what was always a perplexing "there's no way I'll have a teenager who SLEEPS") -- so the early morning window has been imperative.
I love the idea of adding a walk! There’s a small little pond near our house that would probably make for a good writing spot. I also remember hearing somewhere that sunlight first thing in the morning is good for our moods (not surprising). Thanks for the inspiration. Meanwhile, this totally resonates: “My kids have more energy than I can even comprehend when they wake in the morning.” 🤣 so true. I’m trying to get on their level but not quite there yet. Thanks for reading and commenting Kristine.
I love everything about this routine, and hope to get to a sleep routine that allows rising this early. Our three toddlers take a bit of effort in the morning and in the afternoon after pre-K. I need to maintain energy reserves...
Hah! I totally hear that Fred. Our two toddlers are plenty of work in the morning as well (can’t imagine three!), so there are certainly mornings where I need to protect my energy reserves and catch a bit more sleep. It’s a constant back and forth, that’s for sure. Thanks for commenting and being here. Appreciate it!
I’m having a “Splash State” morning at a coffee shop. I indulged in a day off just for me. I’ve done this a couple of times now, and I’m recognizing the necessity of this time for my recharge. You’ve given me something to consider now—earlier mornings. I’ve considered trying to write in the early hours, but the idea of having the workday looming has stopped me. Thanks for helping me reframe the time as something fleeting to be savored, so that I don’t grow gluttonous with it.
Happy to hear you took a day for you Holly! So important to have that time! And I totally get the idea of maybe not wanting to get up earlier with the workday looming. There are nights when I just get lousy sleep or maybe the kids are sick, and it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes there’s mornings where I just wake up so cynical about making art that I just go back to bed and think “what’s the point.” Having said that, I’ve never regretted waking up to write before work—totally reframes the day in the best way. Thanks as always for your comment and presence here—it’s appreciated! 🙏🏻
Thank you, Jacob 🙏 Beautifully written and so inspiring. You have inspired me to at least try to be a morning person, which I am not naturally, unfortunately.. And now I feel I am missing out on so much by not being a morning person! I also have some of the same demands on my time, with my almost-2-year-old, and my soul craves that sacred solitude it needs to reflect, rejuvenate, meditate and create.. All with the aim of being a better mum, wife and human being, in general. 🙏🙏
Thank you Anna 😊🙏🏻. I wasn’t a morning person either, to be honest. It’s taken some time, for sure. But I felt it was something I had to do to create the time I needed to pursue the things you describe in your comment. Plenty of folks are able to do it at night too! I’m just too tired by then 😅 I appreciate your time and your comment!
I was so excited to learn more about what the splash state is! This is exceptional. It's fascinating how critical parts of our routine, such as the splash state for you, are often so meaningful due to their ability to illuminate numerous components of what matters to us. The energy you siphon from earlier days, the unwavering love for your family, the reminder of how busy and complex days tend to be. They can represent so much more than the time or activity itself, which makes them all the more special.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment and kind words Aaron. You’re right that it is amazing how our routines can come to mean so much more and represent the deeper values we hold and the ambitions we have for our lives. This is certainly what makes them special. Thanks again!
As a fellow parent, this line really landed for me—“I’m not just delaying getting out of bed—I’m hitting snooze on an essential part of my being.” Yes. Yes. Yes. And how denying that will get in the way of the rest of your essay about showing up fully with your family, or at least that has been true for me. The more I make space for my essential parts of being, the more I have to share with my family.
Also, your comment about the cookie at JJ’s made me laugh out lout 🍪
I had never heard this term before, but I feel something crystallizing in knowing it now. Like maybe when my alarm goes off tomorrow morning an hour and a half before my son is due to wake, I won’t snooze. For now I know what awaits—My Splash State.
Kaitlyn, so happy to hear this essay resonated (and that the cookie line made you laugh 🤣). And, yes, you’re right: If we make space for those essential parts of ourselves, we have more to give our families. At least I think so. Wishing you many productive and restorative splash states! 😊Thanks for being here.
I envy early birds like you. I just can't do it, never have been able to. My best time is late morning or early afternoon when my people are settled in school, I have taught my classes (yoga) and don't yet have to leave to see patients (acupuncture). My kids are much older (17 and 21), but I miss those days of snuggles with littles and the quiet when they went to bed and it was just me again. It will be just me again soon, but in a very different way.
For what it's worth, I feel like I'm a reformed night owl who has learned to love the mornings 😅. I often think that if I didn't work at a university or have kids I might just fall back into staying up until 4:30am instead of waking up at that time to write! But I do think late morning and early afternoon can be a lovely time to write as well, especially sitting outside on a nice sunny day. To your point about the early days, I try to remind myself to cherish these cuddly moments with my babies because I know one day they'll both be grown and out of the house—which, I'm sure, is exciting in its own way (for everyone involved). Thanks for commenting and being here Janine!
I loved your post! Have you read the poem "Four in the Morning" by Wislawa Szymborska?
The hour between night and day.
The hour between toss and turn.
The hour of thirty-year-olds.
The hour swept clean for roosters’ crowing.
The hour when the earth takes back its warm embrace.
The hour of cool drafts from extinguished stars.
The hour of do-we-vanish-too-without-a-trace.
Empty hour.
Hollow. Vain.
Rock bottom of all the other hours.
No one feels fine at four a.m.
If ants feel fine at four a.m.,
we’re happy for the ants. And let five a.m. come
if we’ve got to go on living.
I've never been able to motivate myself to wake that early, but there is definitely a cult following to this predawn hour. In fact, there is this great TED Talk by the poet, John Rives, that is so much fun to watch!
He even has a link to his Museum of Four in the Morning. It's a collection of endless pop cultural references to the hour. https://fourinthemorning.com/
Enjoy this rabbit hole! Here's to early-morning creative writing.
Adrian! What an awesome, informative, and thoughtful comment! I haven’t read or seen any of this! The poem would have made for an excellent epigraph—might just have to go back and edit this post now 🤣I appreciate the rabbit hole! I’ll enjoy checking all of this out. Thanks as always for your presence and your comments—so appreciated! 🙏🏻
Gorgeous, Jacob. I write in the morning too, and recently discovered that if I wake *even* earlier (4.30) I can immerse myself deeper into my story and my word count soars. I love it, but I find it's a tenuous balance with parenting. Wake early, honor your work and dreams, bring your best self to your loved ones; one tiny cog slows, though—a sick kid, a flat tire, a late night—and the whole system is thrown. I know I could probably do with more sleep, but the rewards of those hours are too great to pass up. You capture this fragile state so well, with both tenderness and resolve. Beautiful. Thank you for a great start to the week!
Thank you for such kind and thoughtful words as always Maria! I so appreciate your presence and support! 🙏🏻😊 And you’re absolutely right: finding the balance is so hard, and it doesn’t take much to throw the whole thing off, especially sick kiddos. I also need more sleep but, as you’re pointing out here, the morning writing experience can just be too good and productive to pass up! Happy to know we share this time! Thanks again for reading and being here!
Ugh. I love this so much. I've been wanting to start morning pages as well. It's just that once I'm up at 7.30 I'm not going to get that nap till it's time to go to bed at night, and those bits of delicious sleep are so precious.
Oh I totally understand that! The biggest challenge of this morning ritual is making sure I get enough sleep. I still need to prioritize my physical health, so sometimes it’s just not in the cards to wake up that early every day. It’s a process, and sometimes life gets in the way. I guess the idea is that it’s a place—or a state—I’m always trying to get back to. Thanks for commenting Indraneil!
Jacob, I have been getting up at 0430 since I was a kid on the farm helping with the morning chores before heading to school. This transitioned well into a life in the Navy. Now, as I get ready to transition once again to a new season of life I am looking forward to these early morning times for quiet, reflection, and writing. I just started reading Anne Lamott's book yesterday. I already have so many tabs, underlines, and other marginalia and I am only a chapter or two into it. Such a rich and rewarding read.
Thank you as always for sharing and being here Matthew 🙏🏻I appreciate and look forward to your insights. It’s interesting because, unlike you, I lived a very undisciplined life for a long time and usually stayed up very late. I think that’s also why I find mornings so special: they’re new to me in many ways! But I’m happy to knew we both share an appreciation for this special time in the morning. Meanwhile, very excited to hear your final thoughts on Bird by Bird. One of my absolute favorites, and I’ll probably be writing on it at some point.
I am also an early riser and love my morning riturals, which include reading articles and notes on Substack over coffee, feeding the birds and squirrels in my front yard, listening to bird songs and then shutting the sounds of modern life.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What is often perceived as chaos is just life. We humans are not naturally well-ordered machines. We learn to be that way through the institutions of our society, in particular the educational ones.
What I am intimating is that we can learn a lot from our young children, especially toddlers. You are in an excellent position now. My youngest is 16, very bright and academic, but perhaps too certain about many things. He lost that sense of wonder he had when younger. It might return later. Hopefully.
I still have it at 66. But it needs to be nurtured.
Thank you so much for sharing Perry, and you’re right: the sense of wonder needs to be nurtured. No better teacher for that than my toddlers—that’s for sure. It’s something I’m trying to recover in many ways after spending so long in academia and in an institutional environment. I appreciate the reminder 🙏🏻
So much of my best work is done -- not because it's especially great but because it gets to the heart of my creative self -- during this same time. I've never heard to this practice referred to as the Splash State, but I think that will stick with me.
I like to include a walk in this period as well, usually sunrise at the lake at the front of our neighborhood, if I can time it right. Sometimes I can bring my coffee, pen, and notebook with me there and write.
My kids have more energy than I can even comprehend when they wake in the morning (though my preteen daughter's waking habits have started to trend towards what was always a perplexing "there's no way I'll have a teenager who SLEEPS") -- so the early morning window has been imperative.
I love the idea of adding a walk! There’s a small little pond near our house that would probably make for a good writing spot. I also remember hearing somewhere that sunlight first thing in the morning is good for our moods (not surprising). Thanks for the inspiration. Meanwhile, this totally resonates: “My kids have more energy than I can even comprehend when they wake in the morning.” 🤣 so true. I’m trying to get on their level but not quite there yet. Thanks for reading and commenting Kristine.
Yes the sunlight is great for mood! And the earlier in the day you get it in your eyes, the earlier your natural melatonin kicks in at night! Win win!
Yes! I’m inspired! Now that it’s getting warmer and sunnier here in the Midwest, I think it’s definitely time to incorporate that walk!
Yes—fellow morning walker here 🙋🏼♀️. It’s magical.
I love everything about this routine, and hope to get to a sleep routine that allows rising this early. Our three toddlers take a bit of effort in the morning and in the afternoon after pre-K. I need to maintain energy reserves...
Hah! I totally hear that Fred. Our two toddlers are plenty of work in the morning as well (can’t imagine three!), so there are certainly mornings where I need to protect my energy reserves and catch a bit more sleep. It’s a constant back and forth, that’s for sure. Thanks for commenting and being here. Appreciate it!
I’m having a “Splash State” morning at a coffee shop. I indulged in a day off just for me. I’ve done this a couple of times now, and I’m recognizing the necessity of this time for my recharge. You’ve given me something to consider now—earlier mornings. I’ve considered trying to write in the early hours, but the idea of having the workday looming has stopped me. Thanks for helping me reframe the time as something fleeting to be savored, so that I don’t grow gluttonous with it.
Happy to hear you took a day for you Holly! So important to have that time! And I totally get the idea of maybe not wanting to get up earlier with the workday looming. There are nights when I just get lousy sleep or maybe the kids are sick, and it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes there’s mornings where I just wake up so cynical about making art that I just go back to bed and think “what’s the point.” Having said that, I’ve never regretted waking up to write before work—totally reframes the day in the best way. Thanks as always for your comment and presence here—it’s appreciated! 🙏🏻
Jacob, I haven’t heard the term splash state though I recognize it from my early morning writing experiences. This was an excellent read. Thanks!
Thank you Priya! So happy to hear we share this creative time in the morning! 😊
Thank you, Jacob 🙏 Beautifully written and so inspiring. You have inspired me to at least try to be a morning person, which I am not naturally, unfortunately.. And now I feel I am missing out on so much by not being a morning person! I also have some of the same demands on my time, with my almost-2-year-old, and my soul craves that sacred solitude it needs to reflect, rejuvenate, meditate and create.. All with the aim of being a better mum, wife and human being, in general. 🙏🙏
Thank you Anna 😊🙏🏻. I wasn’t a morning person either, to be honest. It’s taken some time, for sure. But I felt it was something I had to do to create the time I needed to pursue the things you describe in your comment. Plenty of folks are able to do it at night too! I’m just too tired by then 😅 I appreciate your time and your comment!
I was so excited to learn more about what the splash state is! This is exceptional. It's fascinating how critical parts of our routine, such as the splash state for you, are often so meaningful due to their ability to illuminate numerous components of what matters to us. The energy you siphon from earlier days, the unwavering love for your family, the reminder of how busy and complex days tend to be. They can represent so much more than the time or activity itself, which makes them all the more special.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment and kind words Aaron. You’re right that it is amazing how our routines can come to mean so much more and represent the deeper values we hold and the ambitions we have for our lives. This is certainly what makes them special. Thanks again!
As a fellow parent, this line really landed for me—“I’m not just delaying getting out of bed—I’m hitting snooze on an essential part of my being.” Yes. Yes. Yes. And how denying that will get in the way of the rest of your essay about showing up fully with your family, or at least that has been true for me. The more I make space for my essential parts of being, the more I have to share with my family.
Also, your comment about the cookie at JJ’s made me laugh out lout 🍪
I had never heard this term before, but I feel something crystallizing in knowing it now. Like maybe when my alarm goes off tomorrow morning an hour and a half before my son is due to wake, I won’t snooze. For now I know what awaits—My Splash State.
Kaitlyn, so happy to hear this essay resonated (and that the cookie line made you laugh 🤣). And, yes, you’re right: If we make space for those essential parts of ourselves, we have more to give our families. At least I think so. Wishing you many productive and restorative splash states! 😊Thanks for being here.
I envy early birds like you. I just can't do it, never have been able to. My best time is late morning or early afternoon when my people are settled in school, I have taught my classes (yoga) and don't yet have to leave to see patients (acupuncture). My kids are much older (17 and 21), but I miss those days of snuggles with littles and the quiet when they went to bed and it was just me again. It will be just me again soon, but in a very different way.
For what it's worth, I feel like I'm a reformed night owl who has learned to love the mornings 😅. I often think that if I didn't work at a university or have kids I might just fall back into staying up until 4:30am instead of waking up at that time to write! But I do think late morning and early afternoon can be a lovely time to write as well, especially sitting outside on a nice sunny day. To your point about the early days, I try to remind myself to cherish these cuddly moments with my babies because I know one day they'll both be grown and out of the house—which, I'm sure, is exciting in its own way (for everyone involved). Thanks for commenting and being here Janine!
I loved your post! Have you read the poem "Four in the Morning" by Wislawa Szymborska?
The hour between night and day.
The hour between toss and turn.
The hour of thirty-year-olds.
The hour swept clean for roosters’ crowing.
The hour when the earth takes back its warm embrace.
The hour of cool drafts from extinguished stars.
The hour of do-we-vanish-too-without-a-trace.
Empty hour.
Hollow. Vain.
Rock bottom of all the other hours.
No one feels fine at four a.m.
If ants feel fine at four a.m.,
we’re happy for the ants. And let five a.m. come
if we’ve got to go on living.
I've never been able to motivate myself to wake that early, but there is definitely a cult following to this predawn hour. In fact, there is this great TED Talk by the poet, John Rives, that is so much fun to watch!
https://www.ted.com/talks/rives_the_museum_of_four_in_the_morning?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
He even has a link to his Museum of Four in the Morning. It's a collection of endless pop cultural references to the hour. https://fourinthemorning.com/
Enjoy this rabbit hole! Here's to early-morning creative writing.
Adrian! What an awesome, informative, and thoughtful comment! I haven’t read or seen any of this! The poem would have made for an excellent epigraph—might just have to go back and edit this post now 🤣I appreciate the rabbit hole! I’ll enjoy checking all of this out. Thanks as always for your presence and your comments—so appreciated! 🙏🏻
Gorgeous, Jacob. I write in the morning too, and recently discovered that if I wake *even* earlier (4.30) I can immerse myself deeper into my story and my word count soars. I love it, but I find it's a tenuous balance with parenting. Wake early, honor your work and dreams, bring your best self to your loved ones; one tiny cog slows, though—a sick kid, a flat tire, a late night—and the whole system is thrown. I know I could probably do with more sleep, but the rewards of those hours are too great to pass up. You capture this fragile state so well, with both tenderness and resolve. Beautiful. Thank you for a great start to the week!
Thank you for such kind and thoughtful words as always Maria! I so appreciate your presence and support! 🙏🏻😊 And you’re absolutely right: finding the balance is so hard, and it doesn’t take much to throw the whole thing off, especially sick kiddos. I also need more sleep but, as you’re pointing out here, the morning writing experience can just be too good and productive to pass up! Happy to know we share this time! Thanks again for reading and being here!