Fifteen Minutes in the Morning

After my coffee and oatmeal this Sunday morning, I sat down at my desk and closed my eyes. When I opened them it was 13 minutes later. 

This was prompted by a Kobe Bryant practice I came across in a New York Times article: meditating for at least 15 minutes each day.

Every morning, Bryant sits alone in silence for at least 15 minutes and let his thoughts wander. “It sets me up for the rest of the day,” Bryant said. “It’s like having an anchor. If I don’t do it, I feel like I’m constantly chasing the day as opposed to being able to be controlled and dictate the day. … I have a calmness about whatever comes my way. And a poise.”

Bryant just sat in silence and observed his thoughts. And that’s what I did. The thing that overwhelmingly occupied my mind was my connections, my relationships. The depth of them, the appreciation of them, and the strong desire to go on growing those relationships. 

I thought about community. About how it was fractured at different times in my life when I moved or when I closed the chapter on certain areas of my life as I prepared for the next. More recently that included stepping down from a senior leadership role in nonprofit and the unusual loneliness and unsureness of starting a solo practice. But also about the new spheres of community I’m building. Frequenting a progressive church that I learned about over coffee with a consultant whom I’ve long deeply admired and who mentioned his wife is one of the pastors there, and where I immediately felt a sense of belonging. About my two brothers, two nieces, and nephew - a close-knit crew of 6 as you’ll ever find. About being a more active alumni and going back to university to pursue more learning and to deepen my connections and community there. 

I thought about how I love to read and research and process and share, like I’m doing with this post, with the knowledge or hope that it will resonate with others going through similar journeys.

I already know these things. They’re part of me. But giving myself even a few quiet minutes allowed me to feel them more fully, to see them more clearly.

I hope to continue this practice. Try it!