The Natural, Boring Rhythm
By: Lucy Dan 蛋小姐, She Her 她
Tags: Mental Health, Poetry, Self Care, Routines, Poetry Prompts

Poetry + Comfort

The Natural, Boring Rhythm

Photo by Kai Karl on Unsplash

With the right cues

my body wakes,

be it sound,

be it light.

These days,

in the quiet of my

single-person home,

I could sleep forever

if not for my DIY sunrise alarm clock

and podcast alarm

the mimic the sun’s beckoning

and the sound

of a bustling, waking household

with none of the fighting

over bathrooms.

I edge into each day

as gently as possible,

to my partner’s shock,

sometimes scheduling in

2–3 hours before

my workday begins.

In these moments,

I gently wash up,

I gently make breakfast,

I gently eat breakfast,

I gently read soft poetry,

I gently write my morning pages.

From my work-from-home setup,

I ease into the morning’s tasks

based on to-do lists already set

from the previous night.

I tackle 2–3 hours of truly deep work,

bolstered by Pomodoro,

and recently adding more off-screen breaks

so that my eyes and soul both rest.

I always take lunch,

for which I am truly grateful,

because the one thing I cannot be rushed on

is the glacial pace at which

I consume food.

I’ve been a mindful eater since toddlerhood,

to the frustration of parents, kindergarten lunch monitors, and more

but as an adult, it became a strength

of always honoring that midday break

when others felt so pressured to forgo this time

under the weight of productivity.

For me, this stubbornness caused a lot of trouble,

yet that trouble was worth it in the end,

if simply to hold on to a regular rhythm of food.

Post-lunch,

another 2–3 hours of deep, uninterrupted work,

possibly end-capped by meetings,

ending on a dedicated communications update sesh —

yes, my emails, teams messages, slack messages time,

my publication edits, my medium readings, galore

I dedicate my full but also winding attention to these pieces

so that any new challenges, missions, and tasks

can be scheduled again for the next workday morning

when I’m ready to tackle it all.

My partner and I,

though long-distance dating,

both eat at 5 pm, (I know)

(( it’s truly so early !! ))

Yet, I find that eating this early

gave me such freedom

for the rest of the evening

from grogginess,

leaving room to create, explore or rest,

as my body speaks to me.

This time, post-dinner

is unscheduled,

allowing my chaotic internal rhythm

to unleash itself

after a long day roped inside

a corset of moments scheduled down

to the second.

I may aspirationally say

that I gently enter bedtime

with a good yoga session, or meditation,

but lately, it hasn’t been true.

I’ve forgone these nighttime routines

to hold true to a solid 9 pm bedtime,

another early one, yes, I know.

I protect my sleep and my eating times

fiercer than a mother bear her cubs,

for if I were not to advocate

for these steady routines,

I may fall apart at the seams

quite literally.

These are the natural rhythms of my day

that I’ve come to love and enjoy.

I may not party till late

or do many excursions,

but it’s the soft, gentle connections

with my partner, with friends, throughout the day,

and the ease in transitions pre-and post-work

that allow me to dive most passionately

into what I do during the day.