Wednesday 16 January 2013

[O&AM] - I don't like mornings



This year, one of my goals is to do a monthly post that tells you guys a bit more about me. You've probably learned a fair few things about me already, but this year I'll be focusing specifically on getting myself out there more. Some of the things I'll post about in this series are of a more sensitive nature, for e.g.:

  • Atheism
  • Introversion
  • Crappy ailments I inherited from my lovely family
  • Thoughts on death
  • The abomination that is pineapple on pizza

For today though I'm going to ease into this whole thing with a pretty harmless topic: how much I hate mornings.

Ever since I was a baby I've been a night owl. As a toddler I stayed up so late my mum had to stagger off to bed and leave me awake. School days were a real nightmare, having to get up that early. I somehow managed it, albeit in something of a daze. Then I finished high school, spent a year travelling/competing in the Couch Potato Olympics, and enrolled in...wait for it...a Humanities degree.

The great thing about Humanities degrees (which we often refer to as Arts degrees) is that you have minimal contact hours and maximum opportunity to laze about being a complete bum. I did that bum thing really well. It's no surprise that by the time I finished my fourth - honours - year (2002), I was the heaviest weight I've ever been in my life. I spent that whole honours year eating, when I wasn't struggling to get essays and a thesis finished. But anyway, I'm talking about how I hate mornings, right?

I still do, most of the time, but nowadays I can't really sleep in to save my life. I guess I've had enough years of working full time that I'm just used to early rises now. I still stay up way past bedtime if given half the chance, but knowing I'll be waking up early no matter how late I go to sleep is a real deterrent  I'm just not willing to put up with the torturous sleep deprivation anymore. So I try to do the right thing and get to bed on time. It's boring, but necessary.

I still love the night, especially gazing up at a blanket of stars, and find mornings quite ordinary. I guess I was just born this way.

29 comments:

  1. Ha, I love how your mom had to go to bed before you. My son is totally a night owl and I'm more of a morning person, so I used to have to do that. I get up at 5am, so mornings are rough, but I do sleep in on weekends now that my son is a teenager.

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  2. All my life I've wanted to be a morning person -- I enjoy the quietude around the house before everyone else is up -- but after over 4 decades of trying, I have to accept that it ain't gonna happen. If there's not an alarm blaring and a pressing need to get up, i just love to sleeeeep way too much.

    I'm happy to see your name on the list for Back From the Future! :D

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  3. Me, too. I have never been a morning person. Almost to the point that it's best not to talk to me until after my shower, when I'm more awake. My mom used to have to do the craziest things to get me out of bed for school. That poor woman.

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  4. I am not a morning person and all my inspiration comes at night but I had to change that for the sake of health. I do like pineapple in pizzas, though.

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  5. I'd get rid of mornings and skip straight to afternoons, except then I'd hate afternoons.

    ......dhole

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  6. I've got mixed feelings about it. I used to be a night owl and enjoyed it. Sleeping until 9 or 10 and at times even later worked okay for me. Then I started getting used to waking up early and that became a habit. Now if I can sleep until 6 or 6:30 I consider that quite a luxury. Mornings can be nice in many ways. But so can sleeping in.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out


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  7. You had me until pineapple on pizza being an abomination. ;-p Love Hawaiian pizza! I've always been a night owl, as well. My mom thinks she ruined me because she worked nights when she was pregnant with me (bartender), and then I grew up hanging out at the movie theater and going out to eat at Denny's after it closed (waaaaay late), etc. I do love the night, though, so much. It's so peaceful.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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  8. I am so much the opposite of you. I was never much of a night owl - if I don't get enough sleep I am not so nice to be around lol!

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  9. I'm curious about those topics. I'm a morning person and also a nightowl. I just don't like the time in between (which is slightly problematic, because sleeping during the day isn't a very realistic option).

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  10. Trisha: I can't wait to discuss your topics! As for mornings, I agree. My wife believes I am a lycanthrope. I wake up around 10:00 pm, and I think nothing about writing at 3:00 am. I tell everyone that I am fortunate enough to have been given a 200-year life span, and I intend to sleep the second hundred. Does it surprise you that I have a Humanities degree?

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  11. I'm so curious to read more of your topics, this is a great idea for a series. And you cracked me up about pineapple on pizza! Just reading it kind of makes me gag a little.

    I am more of a morning person but I do so love gazing up at the stars at night.

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  12. I'm one lucky girl in comparison. As long as I have 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I can be both a morning and night person.

    As a result, I don't really have a particular liking for a particular part of the day.

    Also, let me just say. I hate any form of cooked pineapple except for preserves. That is all. ;-)

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  13. It takes me a long time to get my mind working. I do things best at night too, but like you, years of having to get up has changed me a little.

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  14. I like to look up at the stars too - but I'm a morning person. I walk the dog as soon as I get up sometimes I'm out at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

    I love your topics and I am looking forward to reading more.

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  15. I'm definitely a morning person. I love mornings more than any other time of day. They're so peaceful and full of promise.

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  16. I'm not a fan of mornings either, and yet that's the best time for writing. Go figure.

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  17. I LOVE MORNINGS!! I know I know, I'm weird :)

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  18. I just did a series in death not all that long ago. And I talk about introversion from time to time.

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  19. I used to be able to get up naturally very early, but that stopped sometime during my teen years. I now far prefer to write and do things well into the night.

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  20. Mornings are difficult, but once I'm up I'm up. Granted, when the nearby mosque starts chanting at 5 in the morning you really are forced to wake up early.

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  21. I used to work third shift, so I was definitely a night owl. Loved it. Then I started law school, and since then I pretty much get up at 6 every morning. But I don't like it. Sigh.

    (And I'm right with you on the pineapple. :P )

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  22. I think I'm naturally a non-morning person who has become a morning person. As my kids say, we're middle of the day people. Even in my younger years I preferred hitting sleep-time between 11 and midnight, although I did stay up dancing until 2 in the morning a number of times in my 20s. Then I married an early riser who doesn't even seem to think that he's an early riser - but who else would sign up to ride a van pool at 6:15 a.m.? That means waking by 5:45 at the latest. And with the exception of days where I just couldn't sleep the night before, or if I've been sick, I'm usually up by 6:10 . . .to give him a hug goodbye. So, then I'm awake, and I start blogging, writing, exercising, praying, until my kids get up. Sometimes I wonder if my comments are even coherent, but I just keep going anyway.

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  23. I love mornings - especially when you see that first light of dawn and decide its about time to go to bed.

    I joke. I used to be that way, but as I get older I find that I have a hard time sleeping in no matter when I go to bed. I was up til 2:30 a.m. Last night and was still up by 7:30 this morning.

    Looking forward to all the controversial stuff.

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  24. I used to be a pro at lying in too. But having kids put paid to that! If I ever do get the chance to sleep longer, I tend to get a sore back. There is something about writing in particular, at 5am when it's completely quiet, that feels magical. (OK, not all the time). And technically it's still night time!

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  25. I love to sleep in, but I've always been most productive in the morning. And my daughter (now 17) was a kid who woke up at 7am regardless of when we put her to bed, so our whole family sort of adopted earlier hours.

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  26. Ooh, I am a night owl, too! That's the time when I am most productive and get the most things done. I stay up incredibly late; ideally I would like to wake up early in the morning because there's nothing better than a fresh start to the day, but it's impossible when I don't greet my bed until way past midnight!

    Looking forward to these monthly personal posts and getting to know you better, Trisha!

    ~Wendy Lu

    The Red Angel Blog

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  27. I can do okay in the mornings as long as I get enough sleep at night. I'm also happy to stay up late, if I don't have to be anywhere the next morning. The only time of the day that seems the hardest is the afternoon. I always want to sleep then. LOL!

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  28. I can't disagree! The only time I enjoy mornings is if I can wake slowly without an alarm, remember my dreams, have a leisurely cup of coffee, and not have to go to work or feel guilty about all the writing related stuff I ought to be doing!

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  29. I am completely a night person. I prefer to go bed at 6 than to wake up then! The only bad thing is no one else seems to agree with me so I'm up and happy, but I'm alone. :/

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!