I grew up going to a lot of Quaker silent meetings. They were a wonderful oasis in my elementary and high school of enforced peace and calm. Of course I wouldn’t have told you that then, I would have moaned about why didn’t they just give us the time to go hang out, and it’s not like I was always so respectful of the silence (notes were passed, knees were tickled, ribs were elbowed). But it was there. And now that I’m all old now, that silence has created a space inside of me that I continue to return to. I am thankful.

Morning is the perfect time to return to this place. I remember one person standing up in a meeting (you’re allowed to talk, you just do it into the silence, standing and sitting back down), and saying, “If only I had woken up this morning and been quiet for a few minutes, this day would have gone so much better.” It was well over a decade ago, but he seemed so sincerely regretting and I could feel that too. How everything–days, meetings, chores–is made better by a little preparative pause of silence.

So, I encourage you to give yourself that in the morning. Just a small moment in which to gather your self and your selves. If I had done that this morning I might not have burned my hand on a pipe, then bashed my hip into a key hanging out a door, then felt the need to sob about everything that’s going on in my life. You know those mornings? Well, I’m fairly certain if I’d remembered this a little earlier, I’d be gliding into my day off from work a little smoother. Though I wouldn’t have been able to write this and remind us all about the importance of a small moment of soft, easy, morning silence.