Up With The Sun

It’s actually not that special for me to be awake before sunrise. At some point, years ago, I started coming into work early. I start my day around 7a or so, so I can leave 3ish or 4ish and the sun is still out when I leave work. Time changes are tough, and you have to make the choice: do you go to work in the dark, or do you come home in the dark? I’ll choose the former if I can. (It doesn’t hurt that I can also catch an early happy hour from time to time.)

However last week was a perfect combination of the time change, dog sitting for a friend, and early morning wake up. As I was bringing the pup back into the building, I happened to look out of one of the windows and saw the perfect pinkish-orange glow of sunrise.

At that moment, there was the choice… to go back to my apartment, shower, change and go right to work. Or… go to the roof and capture some shots first. AKA the creator’s conundrum, AKA the hustle, AKA hobby vs day job, etc. And this time I chose to take a pause, go take the photos and be done with it.

I’m running late to work mostly due to dog sitting duties and also a quick trip to the roof to snap these. pic.twitter.com/AGXW2tidvN

— Brian Gray (aka ürb) (@urbanbohemian) November 7, 2019

I think it was worth it, I wasn’t that late to work in the end, and the world kept turning. The shots were nice, even though I could probably have gotten similar shots any morning (if I were willing to get up that early), and that’s that. But it felt like that quick decision took ages. It was nothing more than an elevator ride to the roof, and being the earliest person in the office, it’s not like anyone was waiting on me to arrive, but it still felt like a struggle.

It’s a very small part of the creator, influencer, freelancer, etc. hustle, but most often for me it’s, “Do I do this thing, or do I go to work?” Most times I choose the latter, but that morning I’m glad I stopped.