People saying how much they love waking up feeling sprightly in the morning is a well-worn cliché. Either that or it’s me being jealous of the fact that I really can’t identify with this feel-good vibe when the alarm clock goes off.
I recently came back from a few days off work and this time I decided to spend my time in London. It was quite a relief actually as my other holidays this year were all abroad and yes, in many cases they involved early flights.
From reading Valerie Trierweiler’s book on one of my petit hobbies – French political scandals – to eating in that cool restaurant that was on my list for ages, the thing that gave me the most pleasure was the fact that I could choose to wake up at whatever time I decided. I even had to decline the offer of an 11.30 brunch with a good friend of mine (well, it wasn’t that dramatic: I just turned it into lunch by moving it an hour later).
The feeling of looking at the clock at 04.00 and not feeling the pressure of an early morning ahead is a wonderful feeling indeed. For some reason, when I get up later my brain is on fire: I shoot off emails, have numerous ideas for the day ahead and catch up with some reading (involving French political scandals, obviously).
People like to assume that if you are a night owl, you also like clubbing. As much as I like to do a little dance every now and then – and also the fact that I live in buzzing Soho in London – most of my late evenings do not revolve around a dance floor. Well, from time to time my living room can become a little disco accompanied by a nice glass of wine but that’s it, believe me.
So yes, birds chirping in the morning, the early sunrise and a brisk walk pre-breakfast are not really my thing. And contrary to what the morning brigade says, evenings have their very own special charms and secrets.
Fernando Augusto Pacheco is a researcher for Monocle 24.
