Morning Routines
Letter from the editor
I’m always curious about people’s 5-9 before their 9-5. Like, what do morning people do to kick themselves out of bed and get rolling?
One friend in the throes of marathon training would go to sleep in her running clothes so that when 5 a.m. came, she could quickly get out the house. Another likes to hit the beach and collect sunrise photos during her morning walks.
“One of the most powerful shifts I have made is protecting the first hour of my day and being intentional about what I allow into it,” writes Kimberly McLaughlin-Smith. The founder of Courage2Become Consulting shares here about her shift in habits to put herself more front and center.
Deeper into this issue, the members of the Cape Fear River Rowing Club talk about the camaraderie and practice they find most mornings, meeting up at 5:45 a.m. to hit the water.
“I started rowing in 2019 as someone who had never rowed in my life,” club president Kim Futrell, who is out on the river most mornings, says in the story here.
I know others who have tried to be intentional about swapping book reading for daybreak doomscrolling. For those looking for a page turner to start next, we have several local bookstore owners sharing their summer picks, starting here.
Active or chill, their common denominator is carving out some alone time first.
Over here?
I can’t say I’ve tackled the 5 a.m. quiet hour. The sound of a kid yelling, “Alexa, off” – the modern-day equivalent to hitting the snooze button on school mornings – at 6:15 is what serves as an alarm clock in our house.
But I have high hopes.
Maybe this summer will be the warm-weather impetus to get out and get going. Who knows, maybe beating beach visitors to snag early-morning parking will be the necessary motivation. Maybe my dog will become a sunrise canine.
As the school year quickly comes to a close and schedules ease into summertime routines, any changeups are possible – as long as someone remembers to reset Alexa’s alarm.
Vicky Janowski, WILMA editor
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