Morning Humanness

Embracing my humanity and my limits

I always thought I hated all routines.

But turns out, I think I just hate the perfect kind (isn’t that the only kind we see on social media these days?).

I can’t stick to the same exact perfectly-healthy hour-long morning and evening routines every day. And that doesn’t even sound fun.

But I’m realizing lately that a good, simple routine (emphasis on simple) holds me steady and brings me joy.

For example:

My morning “routine” lately has been something I like to call, “morning humanness.”

It’s embarrassingly simple, really.

I do something every morning to help remind myself I’m a human.

The goal is to start my day humbled and at peace. I don’t want to pretend I’m a productivity robot or an all-powerful god. I don’t want to immediately start checking tasks off my to-do list or acting like I can control exactly what happens today.

I try to do said humanly activity right when I wake up—so it’s the launching pad. I want to sink into my humanity and let this awareness set the tone for my day.

Greta, my two-year-old, has been miraculously sleeping in lately (like a champ—it’s like she knows her mom has a book to edit), so I’ve been using most mornings to get a couple hours of writing/revising done.

BUT, before I get a single thing done, I try to remember my morning humanness.

Most mornings, this routine is as simple as pulling back the curtain in my bedroom to stare at the sunrise for a minute.

Because looking at the sunrise reminds me I’m not the one who makes the sun rise every morning. This practice is a beautiful reminder that I’m not in control, that beauty is just happening all around me, and that part of my purpose as a human is to just sit in awe and wonder of existence. I don’t need to hold it all in my hands. It’s all beyond me, and that feels freeing.

Sometimes my morning humanness is stretching. I remind myself that I exist within a frail body that needs care and attention. I’m not invincible. And it also reminds me to find joy in physical activity—like the release I feel when I touch my toes and slowly stand up again, one vertebrae at a time. Part of being a human is being beautifully embodied.

Sometimes my morning humanness—my act of resistance against identifying as a robot or a god—is to simply fall back asleep. On mornings when I feel like I need a little more sleep, when I can, I take it. I remind myself the world won’t crumble into pieces if I rest for 20 more minutes. And I bask in the humanly glory of hitting the “snooze” button and closing my eyes to sink back into sleep.

Sometimes I pray—again, very simply. Actually, all of the above practices usually lead to prayer.

“God, thanks for the sunrise. Thank you for being in control. Thank you that that weight isn’t on my shoulders.”

“Thank you for my body. Help me to take care of it today and use it well.”

“Thanks for extra sleep. Thanks for grace to be a human and feel tired. Thanks for my warm bed and my family sleeping near me.”

This morning, my daughter was in our bed (she’s sick and wanted to be with us in the middle of the night), so my morning humanness was watching her sleep—her tiny chest rising and falling in her Elsa nightgown. Then, it was morning cuddles when she woke up. I love every reminder I can get that the people around me are what really matters.

What can you do each morning to remind yourself of your humanity? How can you start your day knowing who you really are and thanking the One who gave you breath and this beautiful life?

Book Progress

I am pretty dang close to finishing the initial (probably most intense) round of edits on the whole book! I can’t even believe I’m saying that! Getting this thing to print still feels pretty far-off, but the vision’s getting clearer and clearer and it’s feeling more real with each step.

Three Faves

1. I’ve had this song on repeat lately. It was one of my anthems back in 2015/2016 when faith felt simpler and I believed I could change the whole world. Listening to it now feels really healing. It still deeply hits me, but in a whole new way.

2. THESE Kind ice cream bars. Life. Changing. Josiah and I have eaten one every night after Greta’s bedtime for like the past week. They taste like those Snickers ice cream bars—but they’re dairy free!! AMAZING.

3. One of my best mom friends wrote and released a children’s book!! What?? I still can’t believe it! Go, Mikayla! It’s absolutely gorgeous, and Greta already loves reading it together. Grab it for your kids or your friends’ kids to create a little experience of connection through reading. (It’d make a great last-minute Mother’s Day gift for any moms of little kids in your life!)

That’s all for now. Talk to you next week,

Sarah