Prisha Khimavat

This is part of a writing challenge. Click here to read more about it.

I have always had a very strange relationship with change. Though it terrifies me and the actual process of change keeps me up at night sometimes, I am fascinated by it. I find myself often thinking about, discussing, and writing about change. As such, I find it only fitting that I share a fairly recent change in my life.

Though, I’ve always identified as a night owl, this night owl is having an identity crisis.

Anyone who has spent more than a day with me is most likely aware that I despised getting out of bed. I used to be the girl who was constantly complaining about the shocking amount of sleep I got and bragging about how quickly I managed to get ready for the day in order to stay in bed as long as possible. I was the person who set thirty-four thousand alarms in the morning and still ended up oversleeping. Even if I did manage to wake up on time, I would end up wasting a ridiculous amount of time just laying in bed. I could never eat first thing in the morning, and I most definitely had no desire to talk to human beings first thing in the morning. It used to take me hours to become a functioning human being. In short, I hated mornings.

Now, I’m beginning to find mornings to be blissfully serene. I set at most five alarms and manage to get out of bed within ten minutes of when I intended to. Opening my curtains, I let the bring sunlight in, soaking in the light of day. I make my bed right away and head to the bathroom, to quickly freshen up. The girl that physically could not eat anything within a few hours of waking up, makes herself a good breakfast, and enjoy the process of both preparing and eating the food. I’ll read a book, listen to music or a podcast of some sort as I eat, and then after all that, I’ll check my social media to see whats happened in the time I’ve been asleep. This is probably the biggest change in my life as of recently. I could not have imagined a world where I didn’t reach for my phone as soon as I woke up, but it’s been really amazing having some quite time in the morning to just wake up fully, and feel productive pretty much right away. After that, I get showered, dressed and ready for whatever I have planned that day and head out (or not, it really depends on the day).

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that this morning routine works flawlessly every single day. Somedays, I have longer nights than others, or exams to study for or calls that wake me up in the morning. Some days, much like today, I oversleep and have to cut quiet time shorter that I would like to. However, most days, I manage to find a way to make something I used to despise, something that I, now, look forward to.

I am still not an early bird by any means, in the sense that I still struggle to get out of bed, and I still have absolutely no desire for human contact first thing in the morning. However, by being productive in the morning, making my bed, making and eating breakfast, and doing things that I enjoy, by just taking some time out for myself before the chaos of the day begins, I’ve found that my days seem to go a lot better. Though I still work best at night and am able to thrive extremely well then, I also look forward to getting out of bed and starting my day. I look forward to being productive and getting things done. Honestly, I look forward to simply getting started.

It looks like this night owl is on the hunt for the early bird’s worm.

~ Prisha Khimavat ~

Duration: 32 minutes and 43 seconds