Peace in a Pod

Mornings, as a concept, are kind of a trip because, when you think about it, it’s just a few hours in the day, the same way that the evening is a few hours in the day, and the afternoon and the night. It’s just a period in time. But, for some reason, the morning has this extra something . It’s like, the way you work your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day, and ultimately your life as you are living it. In an article on Neurotracker, Ciaran Robinson (2019) talks through some of the many benefits of getting up early, including: Enhanced organising skills, since this is probably the only time in the day that you have to yourself Feeling happier and more energetic throughout the day Beating long or busy work commutes and crowded gyms (in pre-COVID times, of course) An overall better outlook on life, due to enhanced sleep quality. But let’s not get bogged down too much by the science. What about the lived experience of being an early bird vs. a night owl? Well, this is where my o...

(This blog post is a bit different to what has come before. It is intended as a light-hearted, conversational piece that I only thought of putting together in the moment. I am not trying to persuade or dissuade here, merely just reacting to a novel experience I had at the weekend that I wanted to share. Hope you enjoy.) About midway through October, it came to my attention that a full moon would fall on Halloween night, for the first time in something like 76 years. Not only that, my sister Méabh told me, but it would also be a blue moon - the second time in a calendar month that a full moon would occur. A few months back, I remembered Méabh talking about things like cosmic orderings and how she and her friends had done one, and she felt forces in her life work for the better in the aftermath. Now I for one am not about mysticism or astrology or any of that - there is certainly a bit of fun in it, for sure, but I would be skeptical about the validity of its claims. However, I do think ...