Every Sunday morning that I’m in town, I head out for a long run. Two weekends ago at the waterfront, the weather was glorious. The whole city of Portland took up jogging or cycling.
Last weekend at the waterfront, the weather was more to our usual end-of-Spring form… rainy and gloomy. The whole city of Portland stayed indoors.
On the sunny day, joggers and cyclists smiled at each other with a mutual appreciation of our good fortune. The implied message was, “It’s good to be alive!”
But on the rainy day, a much smaller crowd of amateur athletes nodded at each other with mutual pride. The implied message was, “Nice job. Glad to see you made it out while other people are sleeping in.”
If I don’t feel like running one weekend, I go anyway. It’s not just out of duty—nine times out of ten, I’m glad I went. The days I feel bad about my writing aren’t the days when I’ve written poorly. It’s the days where I’ve done everything but write—those days are killer.
If you base your workout schedule on the weather, you’ll never build a habit of exercise. The same is true for writing or any other creative practice: base it on anything outside your control, and good luck getting anything done.
In a creative practice, waiting for “inspiration” is the worst. I follow the Somerset Maugham school of inspiration: “I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”
It might not be every morning at nine o’clock sharp for you, but the point is that inspiration shows up when you have a deadline to meet. If you don’t have a real deadline, better make one up.
***
I always like to hear about other people’s goals and projects. One interesting way to find out what motivates someone is to ask:
“Why do you get out of bed in the mornings?”
Sometimes the answer is “school” or “a job,” and that’s fine—I don’t think everyone should walk away from schools and jobs without a plan. But the obvious follow-up is, what if you didn’t have the obligation; what would you get out of bed in the mornings for if it was completely up to you?
I get up to run on Sundays, rain or shine. I’d rather it be shining, but regardless, the shoes are by the door the night before. The other six days of the week, I get up to write. I’m working toward something; I’ll put the miles in.
How about you—why do you get out of bed in the mornings?
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Image: Domi-San
May 19, 2011
chris
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
I have to run more. And I have to do it no matter if I feel like it.
Shit, shit, shit, shit shit.
May 19, 2011
Lindsay
Love this. I was just procrastinating working on my novel. Your posts keep getting better and better.
Rock on. : )
May 19, 2011
Sebastien Cloutier
I used to get up to go to work, now I get up to live my life to its fullest. I still have to get up to go to work, but my whole vision has changed. My life has gone through a big turning point this year and I am living through a whole new vision of life!
May 19, 2011
Bridget
I get out of bed to write. Every day.
May 19, 2011
Chea
Gosh, I don’t get out of bed in the morning for any of the wonderful reasons people have mentioned above. No, honestly, I get out of bed because I get tired of sleeping!
Though the dream world is fascinating, the dream I live in the awake world is too lovely to NOT get up for.
Thanks for a great post and the kick in the butt to go write the one I owe for this week!
May 19, 2011
Franisz
Running when raining is challenging. But, I love to do that. While running in sunny days are tough and also challenging, but doing a rain running is more challenging, and it’s like pumping more of your energy to finish our running. But, unfortunately, we cannot use earphones when rain running : ).
As for the ending question: How about you—why do you get out of bed in the mornings? I’d answer just as what Dante said that imagine that today will never have another dusk again.
May 20, 2011
Srikant
[[If you base your workout schedule on the weather, you’ll never build a habit of exercise. The same is true for writing or any other creative practice: base it on anything outside your control, and good luck getting anything done.
In a creative practice, waiting for “inspiration” is the worst. I follow the Somerset Maugham school of inspiration: “I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”]]
I agree very strongly! Works with playing the violin too.
May 20, 2011
Martha
I loved this article – Wow, why do we get out of bed if it wasn’t for work, school or indeed the kids?
The driving force for me to get out of my bed is my clients. I am the owner of my own virtual assistant company. Ok, you may say ‘but that’s work or a job’ however, I absolutely love what I do; so can I really call it a job or work? I suppose that’s a completely different article
May 20, 2011
Pat Fuller
I get up in the morning so I can spend some quality time with my husband before I have to leave for work. We ususally work two on-line crossword puzzles. Then, I surf the internet while he calls his sisters for a morning check-in. After I eat and prepare my lunch and dress, we have a cup of coffee and plan our day. It is a great way to begin each day. Soon, I will be retired and we will no doubt have a new pattern. But mostly, it will be to be with each other.
May 20, 2011
Sarah
Have you read the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s memoir about running and writing? “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” I highly recommend it, it deals with this exact subject.
May 20, 2011
Michelle
I quit my management job 2 months ago now. I have kept my old routine, I still get up to run every day and am usually starting some work by 9am. I was initially really worried about getting sucked into the day time tv vortex (I don’t have cable anyway) or napping all the time, I haven’t allowed myself to slack off at all in the two months, some days are more wasteful than others but having structure and goals for each day has really helped. The AONC book was one of the first books I read after I left my job and I loved it, it was so appropriate for me at that time. And as for running it’s all true, you run no matter what weather, it’s only hard before you take the first step, after that you’re laughing. And the sense of accomplishment is greater than when its just a boring gray day!
May 20, 2011
Jeff
“…what if you didn’t have the obligation; what would you get out of bed in the mornings for if it was completely up to you?”
I think this one line just gave me an entirely new perspective on my struggle to get out of bed every day. I rarely get up early but when I do it always ends up being a good day. This reminds me of Ken Robinson’s “The Element.” Find your passion and live life embracing it. Even if you have to go to a job you hate, get up an hour earlier to spend it doing what you really love.
May 23, 2011
dara
“There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.”- Bill Bowerman
One of my favorite running quotes! I tend to use the weather as an excuse… not proud of it!
This post was very timely for me. I currently don’t have a good answer to your question-why do you get up in the morning?… but I’m determined to change that. I allowed my perceived misfortunes to get the best of me this past week… but it’s Monday, and that’s over now. Thanks, Chris!
dara
May 23, 2011
Sarah
Thanks Chris. Just the thing I needed to hear.
May 23, 2011
Jen
My answer to this question has changed recently. I used to love my job – LOVE it. I got out of bed in the morning because I was excited to get to work with the kids and parents and partners and create this amazing one-of-a-kind program. Lately, though, the intellectual stimulation and excitement have diminished because a lot of the creation part is over.
Now I just get out of bed for the kids. Eleven to fourteen year olds kids are so much fun. I get out of bed because I don’t want to miss a single day being a part of their lives.
The question for me right now is, is this enough? Or do I need to find work that has that intellectual stimulation component?
May 24, 2011
Sunil Bali
Research and my experience (ex Head of Talent for 2 very large multinationals) shows that most people get out of bed to pay the bills and the mortgage.
They forget that they have a choice.
As the actress Lily Tomlin once said, “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.”
May 29, 2011
Valbona
This post is a great reminder that goals are never easy to achieve, but you have to make it as easy for your body and mind to take on the challenge. I get up every morning for some exercise as I remind myself how good I will feel the rest of the day having done this and not worrying about missing out on any after work activities to work out.
June 3, 2011
Jessica
I am taking on a challenge to run the 56 mile Edinburgh to Glasgow Double Marathon in april 2012. THAT’S what gets me out of bed in the morning. Not only to prove it to myself, but to prove it to the naysayers (including family) who think it’s a waste of time and that my efforts are fruitless. I am doing it because it’s going to be the hardest mental (yes, mental. Physical is the easy part.) challenge I’ve ever undertaken. I just started a blog and I’d love to have your support.
I will be sure to post a link to this article since it is so applicable. (P.S. This is the first posting of yours I have read. I’m hooked!)
June 23, 2011
Meg
I work out every morning, or at least that’s the plan. I meet my girlfriend at the gym or at the local yoga class and we wake-up together. If either one of us had a late night, or is too tired these morning workouts would be canceled. Now, I could go without her….right. But I don’t. It’s like the weather. It’s an excuse to not go. So… I need to go rain or shine. Friend or no friend. This week I went every morning. She said she can’t make it tomorrow. But I am going!
Thanks for the inspiration. I also like green drinks in the morning.
December 29, 2011
Pauline Norcross Nawroth
At the age of 83, I find myself not focused. Maybe it is because I
desire new things all the time. New people to speak with. New ones to learn what they are doing, who they are and are they contributing to mankind. Maybe that is the selfish thing about me but I seek newness. And a lot more. I am a dreamer and want a new and a happy dream to come true each day. Sharing thoughts and perhaps learning and adding them to my already crowded life seem to me to be what I want and need. Who can judge if I’m right or wrong?
Make way! Here I come! Try to understand this hunger that is
driving me wild! I really want to LIVE until I die. Not for a long time should my time here be over….I pray. Pauline