I never thought that meditation was for me.

(It was for nice, holy people who were far more patient than I am. Who always made good choices and surely never enjoyed a glass of wine.)

I thought the same about poetry.

(It was for serious men in ivory towers. Who analyze instead of feel.)

Both were something to get “right.” Which meant that I could also get them “wrong.”

Now I know both poetry and meditation exist “out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,” as Rumi tells us.

(And don’t worry, Rumi continues: “there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”)

Both meditation and poetry have become the language that helps me understand the things that everyday conversation cannot hold.

Now I know both by heart, like two homes. Places that I belong and places I can’t wait to welcome you to, again and again and again.

And that’s all because of one poem that my first meditation teacher read to me.

It’s the most fitting way to begin your first day of meditation in 40 Early Mornings.

Here are those lines from “The Summer Day,” by Mary Oliver.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

My hope is that your journey through 40 Early Mornings can become an invitation to sit with, examine, and align your days as you live your way into the answer of that question — Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

If simply reading that question is “all” you have time for today, that’s enough. Day 1 counts. You did it.

If you can, keep going. Your “official” Day 1 meditation recording is below.

Day 1: Early Morning Meditation (5 Min)

LEAVE A COMMENT ON DAY 1’s POST TO SAY HELLO.

This comments section is a sacred & confidential place. People have been leaving their personal notes and experiences with 40 Early Mornings here for years. Please show respect to yourself, this practice, and this community when leaving comments. I trust that you will & thank you!

Group accountability bonus — sharing your intention statement here with the rest of the 40 Early Mornings community: (“saying it out loud” gives it a whole lot of weight):

I, ____________________________, hereby commit to 40 days of showing up for myself, my work, my life in my daily practice because I believe …

Ok more tomorrow, for now — just enough!
Cath