Mornings vs. Evenings

Mornings aren’t the same because there is the anticipation of others joining the day. There is a rush and a hustle to get started on the day. How can you take the time to think through things in a manner unencumbered by time when you know that others are getting up and starting on their tasks? There is always someone up earlier, more focused, and more productive than me.

Even if you’re the very first one up, it won’t be that way for long. Soon there will be a new post to read, or email in your inbox, or a continual increase of traffic on the street outside. There is always one more person getting up to join the rat race.

The evenings are enjoyable because people are winding down. There is a sense of “winning the race” in the evenings, but the race isn’t getting the most done or being the most productive. It’s being the one who is pushing past the conventional boundaries of “productivity” and unleashing the power of the individualistic creative mind.

In the evenings, it is the people who woke up early to be productive who are settling in for the night. The “time for productivity” is over - they’ve spent their energy spinning on that little rat race wheel and don’t have the reserves to keep going. As they drop off, there is an overall sense of less rules and rigidity in the day.

For the night creatives, there is still a sense of this exhaustion, but it is a sense of being exhausted from the day and having a sense of freedom to explore without these boundaries. The entire world becomes less crowded, like most of the population just “booted down”. The space for exploration becomes massively larger. There is greater space to roam while staying on a path of forward momentum.

This feeling can be wonderful. The sense of a freedom to explore - whether in one’s mind or out in the world - opens an incredible number of new pathways.