i missed my morning routine last tuesday. not because i was sick or traveling — i just didn't do it. i woke up, looked at the time, decided i didn't want to, and made coffee instead. the day turned out fine.
this is not a post about abandoning routines. routines are useful. they create structure when structure is hard to find, and they reduce the number of decisions you have to make before you're fully awake. i'm not arguing against them.
i'm noting that the day without the routine was fine. not worse. not better, exactly — different. i moved through the morning differently. i noticed different things. i had a conversation with my neighbor that i wouldn't have had if i'd been in the middle of my usual sequence.
the personal reflection of personal reflection has a lot to say about the difference between a practice and a rule. a practice is something you return to because it serves you. a rule is something you follow because you decided to follow it. the morning routine can be either, and it's worth knowing which one yours is.
i think mine had become a rule. i was doing it because i'd decided to do it, not because i was checking in each morning and finding that it was what i needed. the tuesday without it was a reminder that the routine is a tool, not a commitment.
the presence and place of presence and place is about this kind of flexibility — being where you are rather than where your plan says you should be. the morning that doesn't need a ritual is still a morning. it still has light and coffee and whatever the day is going to bring.
i did the routine on wednesday. it felt right on wednesday. the community grounding of community grounding is built on practices that serve, not rules that constrain. more at risentoday.