Late Night Writing

Most posts on this blog start with some variation of the sentence "It has been a while since my last post." This post is no different; in fact it's even more the case, since it has been over three years since the last time I wrote anything! And while I would love to claim that the reason it takes so long to write something is genius can't be rushed, the reason is more often and more simply that I forgot I had a blog for a while. And even when I remembered it's existence, Netflix was often much more appealing late at night. I mean, have you seen season 8 of "24"!?

I have noticed over the years that whenever I write something or make up a song, it's often late at night. Currently it's 12:46 am, and I'm going to wake up at 6:15 to go for a run, yet here I am. From people I've asked, this seems to be a common theme. What is it about the late hours of the night that inspires some mix of passion and creativity? Somehow the knowledge that there is nothing else to do before sleeping, the darkness, the quiet, and the gradual feeling of drowsiness combine in weird ways to breed pockets of motivation. There are many ways to pray, and there's a window at night when prayer is much easier. There is a self awareness that leads to an awareness outside of self and a gratitude for life.

"Gratitude" strikes a tone with me right now. Holy Week has culminated in resurrection. Pain, darkness, and doubt have been endured, but light triumphs. I love melancholy music. There is catharsis that comes from dwelling in sad thoughtful harmonies that somehow convey a sense of stubborn hopefulness and the will to do better. It's late, so these things that make sense to me right now may be foreign concepts when I wake up in less than six hours. Maybe it's a good thing that I'm a night owl. Though I hate feeling tired when I don't get enough sleep, I really enjoy this time between work and bed and don't want to lose consciousness for as long as possible. I will lose that battle once again in about five minutes. Till the next late night; hopefully sooner than April, 2015...