I never thought I'd be writing the words: "My Morning Routine" — and, Everything Cookies
'coffee', read, exercise, meditate, work → breakfast, ~coffee... everything cookies
I’ve always felt like rules (not to mention discipline) were for other people—mostly, folks who couldn’t figure out how to do things without guardrails—and, similarly, the idea of having any sort of regular routine was anathema to everything I knew about myself. I wanted freedom, at all costs, and despite what I’ve learned in the context of addiction about how the freedom to choose at any moment is often smaller than the freedom to not have to choose, when it came to my own practices, I’ve always been dead-set on doing whatever I damn well pleased at just about any moment of every day.
Until this year. Something began to change, starting around the time that I moved into a ~permanent home again last November. You might think, no surprise there, but I had no plan to settle down or to start some sort of routine or daily practice, a term that again, I always felt like was a good idea…for other people. The real catalyst was an attack of sciatica that prompted me to re-examine the question of “I can’t” exercise in the morning, or how much I ‘don’t want to’ vs. the cost of not doing that, which proved, yet again, to be near-terminally debilitating pain.
I finally allowed myself to look I can’t in the eye, and I saw that, well, bullshit, I can, and I should, and really, I have to—and so, I did. I began to exercise every morning before breakfast…and the pain went away. As I knew it would. And, of course, I also began to feel stronger, and to go into each day with the feeling of being more in my body, and of having already done something good for myself, and already done the basic maintenance that I’ve known all along that I should be doing.
I mean, that we all need to be doing. We all know this. I knew it too, but I was still going on the slim hope that I could get away with it. It’s just so common that it barely deserves mentioning, but I do because I want to remind myself how possible it is to change, how the view from the inside always seems normal, and then once the view changes, that seems just as normal too. And now, when I don’t exercise in the morning, I miss it, and it usually catches up with me by the end of the day in the form of a black mood that begins to pool around my feet and gradually deepens, like I’m sinking into a well. It happened the other day, and I woke up with a terrible nightmare that ended only when I broke down in tears (in the dream) and saw the clear message from my unconscious that you’re not getting off this ship. There’s no escape.
Freedom isn’t escape—it’s being able to do what you want to do—which doesn’t have to be everything. What I mean is that the things that freedoms that matter can be supported by other things that don’t need to be “free” in the same way. What I’ve found is that my creative freedom is supported much more now by a regular workout morning routine than it was by a totally random approach to getting outside when and if I felt like it.
So - what do I do?
wake up 6:30-7am
DO NOT LOOK AT THE PHONE
DO NOT LOOK AT THE COMPUTER
make decaf coffee and protein oats. I make the oats while I’m making coffee and set it aside until it’s time to eat. I put the decaf, black with a little coconut oil in an insulated mug and take a quick walk outside to get some sun on my face. In case you’re wondering, I’ve been eating the same thing for breakfast now for like three months already. Seems crazy, but it’s not.
read for 20-30 minutes. Right now I’m reading The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast by Michael Scott Moore—an incredible, true story, and beautifully written. I mostly read memoir—here are my 43 Favorite Memoirs—Some of Which I Guarantee You Haven't Heard Of.
exercise! I follow along to one of my favorite YouTubers for a bodyweight workout, most often Sean Vigue for pilates, Alex Crockford, or this guy who goes by Bullyjuice (I have no idea what that means, but he’s great). I love that I can do these right at home with just a mat.
meditate. I’ve been doing 15 minutes and at some point I may increase it to 20. I learned “Vedic” meditation (a lot like TM) a while back, and I sort of use that method, but also my own “Breathing Colorful Attention” pattern which emerged along the way.
breakfast! I’ve been looking forward to this. I put some banana, blueberries and walnuts on the protein oats that I prepared earlier and, usually, sit down at my desk to start work.
coffee! I’ve been having a homemade half-caf cappuccino after breakfast. I put some turmeric and a little honey in there, super tasty and just enough of a buzz to be satisfying, without being too much.
by now I’m working away, usually an hour or so of email and Substack stuff, or a Zoom call with a writer friend like
or before really digging in.
yep, that’s me!
get outside! later in the day I’ll often get outside for a run or some sailing (in the form of “wing-foiling” as it’s called) in San Francisco Bay, and sometimes along the way there I’ll make a batch of Everything Cookies. I got this recipe from my friend Emily at the beach one day, amended it a bit myself, and, well the results are pretty freaking awesome! They make great energy cookies, running cookies, breakfast, dessert, treats to share with friends, whatever. Thank you to all of you that subscribed yesterday, you inspired me to write this up and share it with everyone!
Recipe for Everything Cookies
Yield: 16-20 cookies | Adapted from plantbasedcookingshow.com
Sometimes called Cowboy Cookies, they’re like a basic oatmeal cookie with whatever you have lying around added in. Whole food goodness, vegan, gluten free, etc.
Ingredients
1 1⁄2 cup organic rolled oats
1 cup pitted dates
1⁄2 cup almond meal
1⁄2 cup dried apricots (or other dried fruit)
1⁄2 cup coconut (unsweetened, shredded)
1⁄2 cup dairy free chocolate chips
1⁄2 cup walnuts, macadamia nuts, whatever nuts
1⁄2 cup dried cherries, goji berries, whatever berries
1⁄2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1⁄2 cup dried candied ginger (if you like ginger)
2 bananas
1 tsp vanilla
a tablespoon or two of molasses, if you like (I do)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°
Add all ingredients to food processor (I use Vitamix because that’s what I have) EXCEPT the chocolate chips and anything else that you want leave in larger chunks, and pulse until the mixture sticks together. In the Vitamix that’s like 30 seconds. Don’t over-mix—especially in a Vitamix, everything gets pulverized pretty quickly.
Turn out into a bowl and fold in the remaining chunky ingredients.
Form into balls (like golf ball size) and place on a cookie sheet. Press the balls slightly flat, if you like.
Bake for 15-25 minutes (15 if you like soft, 25 if you like a little crunch). I bake mine for 20 min.
Enjoy!
Some very serious questions for you…
Does it make you go “argh” when you read or try to say the word “routine”?
Which do you prefer, the freedom to choose at any moment, or the freedom not to have to choose all the time?
How do you take your coffee?
Please share your favorite cookie recipe!
I so relate to this. Routine was always both a part of my life and yet foreign at different times. Nowadays I absolutely have to read first thing in the morning, or listen via audio. But no talking; no dialogue; no music. And I need my Irish breakfast tea.
Hahaha, looks fun.