4:00 a.m.
In 2018 I moved to northern Maine for a winter of contemplation.
Since I was taking a sabbatical from my PhD program that provided a bi-weekly paycheck, I worked as an Assistant Manager at Medawisla Wilderness Lodge during the winter and then a cook at the same lodge during the spring.
Medawisla Lodge nestled in the forests near Maine’s legendary 100-mile Wilderness.
Work came with accommodations in my very own two-bedroom cabin; furnished with a wood-burning stove but no bathroom. Work was also 27 miles removed from the nearest town and the most common way to get around was either by snowmobile or cross country skis. Medawisla’s isolation and cabin accommodations were the primary reasons I chose Maine for my year of intentional contemplation. What was I contemplating exactly? My direction in life as it pertained to my PhD studies.
The Medawisla cabin.
I loved my cook job. Cooking family-style meals was super fun and it totally didn’t hurt that I had loads of autonomy in the kitchen. However, I didn’t necessarily have free time since I was, in fact, the only cook at Medawisla Lodge; a lodge that is supposed to have three. Imagine cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert for an average of 30 people every single day. That is a ginormous amount of time in the kitchen prepping, cooking, and cleaning. Not to mention, the food ordering and menu-planning!
Me slaving away in the kitchen while Erika, Natalie, Luca, and baby Camila visited. Look a Luca!!!
I soon realized that if I wanted any time for contemplation, I needed to wake up at 4:00 a.m. so that I could read, contemplate, and sip coffee by my fire before heading to the kitchen at 6:00 a.m. to begin breakfast. So I did just that and that practice has become one of my most cherished chapters in life. I loved waking up before the rest of the world, sitting in complete silence with the exception of the crackling fire, sipping my French pressed coffee with a book in hand, written by an author that aimed to make me better. It was romantic, it was peaceful, it was restoring, and it was something solely intentional for me. In fact, I loved that practice so much that I brought it back seven years later.
Bali really messed up my sleep schedule so upon returning home and not being able to sleep through the night, I FINALLY decided to re-implement my 4:00 a.m. reading and contemplation practice. Internally, the practice fulfills me and genuinely makes each day better. I even purchased a sunrise alarm clock to help me wake more gently and naturally.
My new sunrise alarm brightens gradually one hour before wakeup. Simultaneously, bird song also gradually becomes louder.
Imagine not waking up to your phone. Imagine not waking up to emails or social media. Imagine not waking up and rushing off to work. Imagine not waking up to traffic, sirens, or trash trucks already outside your window. Imagine not waking up to kiddos (although sweet) needing you right then.
Instead, imagine waking up with a cup of coffee, flavored with Coffee mate’s hazelnut creamer, nestled beside an electric fireplace with a silk down comforter on your lap, with a book in hand and puppies cozied up by your side, no sounds, no daylight, just the warm glow of the fire and a small table lamp. A romantic moment set aside just for you.
Sounds like a good practice.
My brother-in-law, Kurt, says that waking up early is the ultimate life hack. He can’t be wrong. In just three weeks and with 2.5 hours each morning (I read until sunrise) I’ve read Educated by Tara Westover, Mines of the Alpine Loop by William Bowlings, and The Wealthy Barber by Dave Chilton. I am currently working on Outrage Machine by Tobias Rose-Stockwell and have on the way Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty. I’m super stoked for the last one! Lastly, if I need a little break from reading, I’ll play an educational and inspirational podcast.
Must be sunrise because it’s light!
I once read,
The more you read, the better you write. And the more you write, the smarter you become.
As I look back throughout my life, I can recognize that during the years I was required to read A LOT, my world views expanded, my personal philosophies developed, and my conversations with others deepened. And that level of knowledge and growth is addicting because you can literally feel yourself becoming better every day. So perhaps that is yet another aspect of my 4:00 a.m. reading and contemplation practice that I love so much. That the practice is just as much about intellectual betterment as it is experiencing the quietness of the early morning before the world wakes.
So for you, the reader, I’ll leave this. If you’re struggling to find quality time for just yourself - take a stab at the 4:00 a.m. club. If you need to slow your world down - take a stab at the 4:00 a.m. club. If you’re feeling intellectually stagnant or perhaps uninspired - take a stab at the 4:00 a.m. club. If you’ve fallen into a daily rhythm that you may or may not be happily content with - take a stab at the 4:00 a.m. club. If you’re already a driven individual who likes to constantly better themselves - take a stab at the 4:00 a.m. club. And don’t forget to let me know what you’re reading.
Cheers,
Belay
Me on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2018 right after my Medawisla cooking and contemplation chapter.
