#23: The Golden Hour

44 Things That Spark Joy a.k.a. Sh*t That Makes Me Happy:

#23: The Golden Hour

I decided in my 44th year and in light of the fact that we are all (still) looking for things to spark joy in our lives to gather 44 things I’ve found along the way this past year and share them.

Recently, my beautiful and talented friend Wendy posted about her morning routine. Several years back after we fled California, Wendy and her husband followed their dreams to the East Coast. They sold their home in California and purchased a New England farmhouse and barn. She currently runs an event center, several DIY workshops, hosts online events and is creating her own empire of all things wonderful. Her morning routine includes a hot cup of coffee (which I fully support!), time for reflection and reading and her motto is “Be the Person that Gets Up.” When she shared this idea, I immediately loved and connected with this phrase. It is her motivation for getting up, setting an intention for the day and starting it on a positive note. This reminded me of myself as I have a similar way to start to the day. So I thought I would share a similar practice and idea… what I have deemed “The Golden Hour.”

I have always been an early riser. I get this from my dad. He’s an up at dawn, go go go until you crash kinda guy. I would love to sleep in and I used to sleep in pre-kids but now I just can’t. My eyes pop open and the list of to-dos in my head starts running. What do I need to do today? What do I want to do today? And will I be able to get it all done or do I need to adjust my expectations?

Moments to yourself when you have small kids are precious. When Larry was little, I was a new mom just trying to figure it all out. I tried to “sleep when the baby slept” as the advice goes with newborns and just maintain. I didn’t get ahead on any tasks, I just existed and managed. When Chucky came along, I continued to just maintain as that was all I had the brain space and energy for. It wasn’t double the work going from one to two kids, to me it seemed like quadruple. I continue to say that some days having two kids feels like four. So for those parents that I know that have 4 or more kids I wonder if some days 4 feels like 8 or 5 feels like 10 and if so, I bow down to you all!

A few years into being a parent of two kids, the new mom brain fog cleared and a light bulb came on for me. I realized that I needed to work out and be active. This was not only stay in shape physically but also to keep my energy levels up and boost my mental state. In order to add this as a regular habit into my life, I rolled back my morning alarm and made the sacrifice to get less sleep. My kids sadly also inherited the family trait of being early risers so there is no rest for the wicked or the well behaved at our house! If there was any hope of getting in a workout that was uninterrupted and to completion, then my alarm was going to have to go off at o’dark thirty.

What I discovered though with establishing this new routine was that not only did it become a habit but it also afforded me “the golden hour.”. That first hour of my day is mine and just for me. Most of the time, no one else is awake in our house. It is quiet. It is peaceful. It is GOLDEN. I get to wake up mentally at my own pace. No breakfast orders are being shouted at me, no fights are breaking out and no tasks are being piled on. During this hour (or two if I am lucky) I workout, I make my coffee, I text “my people” and I make and eat my breakfast. If extra time is gifted to me, then I do things that bring me joy. I shop online, I check my social media, I look for new recipes or I start checking a few small tasks off my list for the day. By sacrificing just a little sleep, I guarantee that I start my day with the ever talked about and very popular (but a term grates on me) “self care.”

As much as that term annoys me, and I am not sure why, it is necessary. Time for yourself and taking care of yourself is essential. Without that, you are not good at showing up for others. I think that fact has been even more apparent in the last two years since this pandemic began. We have all been trapped and isolated in one way or another usually with others and there has been very little time for ourselves… at least in my world.

So I will keep this brief. I urge you to find your Golden Hour. Maybe you aren’t a morning person and this time will come at the end of the day. Or maybe it’s during your lunch break at work. But carve it out and find the time for yourself. It makes a huge difference in so many ways. Trust me!