HANH TAT

Have you ever pondered on how it feels when you wake up? I’m not talking about anything deep like waking up spiritually but simply the process of waking up first thing in the morning. Have you thought about how sometimes the transition from asleep to awake seems like a tidal wave crashing in, one minute you’re fast asleep and the next your brain is going like Eminem rapping at double speed? Then at other times, the pace is more like the tide making its way to shore and you’re drifting like sea foam between the two states?

This morning, I was woken by the distant sound of my eldest son having a pee, the melodic tinkling of liquid hitting water. A combination of the depth of my slumber and the softness of the sound rendered my passage out of sleep to be like a single tiny drop of ink onto blotting paper. My wakefulness started like that minute bead of vivid colour hitting the whiteness of the paper, contrasting starkly for a brief moment before then proceeding to spread gingerly outwards at a creep. Little specks of alertness started to populate my mind, like the tentacles of colour fanning out on the paper.

I was contemplating all this just as my youngest son came bounding into my bed in his enthusiastic way for cuddles, followed closely by his brother. It was a good place to leave my pondering on the wonder of waking up for that day…at least until the next morning.

Wonder and awe can be found in the ordinary, everyday aspects of our lives if we pay them close enough attention.