You can’t beat Tucson for sunrises (and sunsets).
This is the view from my living room window of the sunrise a few days ago, and the first thing I see on Mondays through Thursdays.
I used to spend time in prayer and meditation, and then work out, and then write before I went in to the office on these days… but, as always seems to happen every few months or so, routines that worked wonderfully at first eventually grow stale. By the time I started working on the sequel to “The Liberty Box” (which still has no title, by the way, and I am open to suggestions!), I was already distracted by whatever had happened that day. I’d already checked my email, started texting people, journaled about whatever might be on my mind, and gone for a run listening to podcasts… I wasn’t fresh anymore. Also, I was starting to notice that my prayer time first thing in the morning just got longer and longer, until I had less than an hour to write when all was said and done. Not enough time to get into the groove.
So, I decided it was time to experiment again. I started writing first thing when I wake up, before 6 am and just after I make my coffee. AMAZING what a difference that has made! They say all writers have a “best” time of the day to write, a time when they’re most creative… and for me, that’s early in the morning, before anything else has had a chance to happen and while anything and everything still feels possible.
Also, for whatever reason, my prayer time (which I moved to right before I leave for work) is more productive too. By then, the sun is well up, and I get to sit on my porch and make friends with the birds.
I highly recommend shaking it up every now and then!
