Inside the Song Series #2: Sierra Serenity at 5:49 am
Have you ever been somewhere so magnificent that you wanted to bottle it? A few summers ago, my family backpacked to Thousand Island Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness of the Sierras--a place that filled us with swells of awe as we hiked the lush 10 miles to the lake.
I chattered incessantly about the array of wildflowers, the smell of the alpine breeze, the funny marmots running about the rocks. After cooking our camp dinner each night, we’d admire the stars then tuck into our sleeping bags. Trying to sleep in the wilderness has always been elusive for me—I wake often and early.
On this trip, I had recently lost my mother to cancer two months earlier which made my sleep extra restless. And so, each morning before dawn, I’d slip out of the tent and walk down to the lake and sit while the natural world awoke. I noticed that the time just before the sunrise, 5:49 am to be specific, was profoundly peaceful.
In these quiet moments by the water, I simultaneously felt the ache of loss and the kiss of a comforting breeze, as if Mother Nature herself was soothing my soul. I wondered how could I keep the Sierra serenity when I got home and entered routine life? I sat with that question over the next few days and wrote this song beside the lake and found my answer: 5:49 AM
Listen to 5:49 AM:
Listen on Spotify:
Writing prompt for your journal:
Think about a specific moment you happen to notice the time of day, note the time, then write for 10 minutes about what is sacred or unusual at that exact time… (Try various hours and places, for instance, 7:15 am kitchen table or 3 pm school pick up or 4:11 am waking up from a dream…). Listen to “5:49 am” for ideas on how to write your own poem or song with this theme…