When I was a paid laborer, I set an alarm and woke up to the radio, a news program every morning. I liked it better than the pulsing of an alarm, that warm articulate voice bringing the news of the day.
Then came the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. It took me, perhaps, a few months to realize that despite being a journalist there was no requirement that I wake up to news. So I got a small clock/cd player and began waking up to music I chose — Paul Winter’s haunting Wolf Eyes or his mersmerizing Grand Canyon Sunrise. Other mornings, it would be the deeply beautiful voice of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (still sad about his untimely death): Hawaii 78 , so tragically lovely, or his much-copied Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.
One day I retired. The need for a wakeup call ended. Today I wake whenever, get up, make coffee, bring it back to bed and open my i-pad. Find myself drawn to news sites, Facebook, email. Among the friendly messages comes the noise, the advertising, the tragedies of the world. I take my citizen responsibilities seriously. But I get to choose how to start the day.
This year I bought a kindle edition of poet Mary Oliver’s book “Devotions.” Now, I start the morning with a poem. Here’s what she gave me today.
Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now 