Morning routine

I’ve recently started seeing a counsellor to help deal with my increasing feelings of dysphoria about the current state of the world. One of the really helpful things that has come out of this process is setting up a positive morning routine for myself. The idea is that having a positive start to the day would help improve my overall mood throughout the day. Since I love walking, and live right by the beautiful Darebin Creek, I decided to start going for a walk down the creek each morning before work.

I aim to leave the house by 7 and go for a roughly 40 minute walk. Then I come home, boot up my computer, and spend a blissful hour doing whatever I feel like doing before starting work for the day. Whether it be reading my RSS feed, tinkering with a personal project, or doing some writing (which is the case today). During my walks, sometimes I like to practice mindfulness, and sometimes I like to just let my mind wander¹.

I’ve been doing this for about a month now, I can say that it genuinely has made a big difference. Regular exercise obviously has a big impact on mental wellbeing. I’ve also had so many amazing experiences on my morning walks. On warm summery mornings I see the sun beaming through the trees, bathing the creek and the trees in a golden light. On frosty wintery mornings sometimes there is a layer of mist over the grass, giving the creek an almost mystical feeling. Sometimes if I get there early enough, I get to see the sun rising over the creek, casting beautiful shades of red, pink, and orange in the sky. This morning I even got to see some hot air balloons taking off from a nearby park. That’s something I certainly don’t get to see every day.

I also get to experience a really positive side of humanity on my walks. Interactions with the people who I pass are so much more positive than the usual day-to-day interactions with strangers. It’s like being in a small country town — people smile and say “good morning”, and everyone seems so happy. There are a few regulars who I see and we always smile and greet each other as we pass. That always makes me feel nice. I also love seeing all the dogs, and sometimes they will come up to me and give me a sniff and say hello.

By the time I sit down at my computer for the day, it feels like I’ve had a whole little adventure already. It’s nice knowing that no matter what happens in a day, I can go to bed at night knowing that I’ve experienced something positive for the day. And these experiences are small reminders that there is still kindness and humanity in this world.