Why you must protect your morning brain.

Are you too having a hard time writing, these days? Many are struggling, with the world being as it is, so this is a good time to remind ourselves that art has always happened, and in all circumstances. There was never a moment in time with global calm. Never a perfect stillness for artists to sit down and create. So that moment you are longing for, that sense of equilibrium where you feel you can safely afford to take your eyes off the world, just for a minute, to make art… It will never come.

«You need to filter,» they say, like it’s as simple as taking out the trash. But it’s true. You need to build your own sanctuary, a stillness of the mind. An eye of the storm, where art is allowed to happen. But how?

Personally, I’ve come to recognize how fragile my mind is in the morning. My brain has been leaking dreams for hours and wakes up dry, like a sponge, and it will suck up anything it touches. I am an empty cup, ready for the world to fill me. I can read the news and fill with despair, I can go through my inbox and fill with stress. So I don’t.

I walk in the woods, every morning, first thing. Because I know I’m impressionable then, like a child. Vulnerable and raw. I watch the mist clear off the lake, and listen to the ducks dive. And I let my brain swell up to normal adult size, becoming alert and more resilient, ready to filter the day’s sh*t through a lense of beauty. Eternity.

Take care of your brain, especially in the morning. Let it soak in something good, before you open up to the rest. That will be your creative shield, because you can’t fill a cup with crap if it’s already brimming with coffee.