Mornings have a charm!
I watched the light break over the horizon and spill into the empty streets of my city. The dark sky turned pink, and then orange, like the reverse of a sunset. As I rode my bike, the cool morning breeze cut through the stillness. There were no honks, no rush, only a quietness that felt different from the silence of the night. It wasn't empty. It was alive in a gentler way as it was broken by the murmur of the people already out walking, jogging, and chatting with their partners. While most shops still had their shutters down, a few were just beginning to welcome the day's first customers.
That was the moment I truly understood the charm mornings possess. There was a strange sense of freedom in being awake before the city had fully come to being. For a brief while, it felt as though the city belonged only to the handful of us who had chosen to greet the day before everyone else.
I'm not an early-morning person. I almost always wake up between 7 and 9 a.m., after sunrise, and even then, my mornings are usually spent getting ready for work or rolling in bed. But on one of these rare days when I do wake up early and step out, I've come back feeling the most grateful that I didn't sleep through one of the most beautiful parts of the day.