I AM a night owl

morninglight
©Mia Salminen, April 25, 2015 at 4.11 am

Don’t you just hate getting up early in the morning? You don’t? Well I do. Even though waking up early does have it advantages. I did wake up early yesterday (Wednesday) because I had a job interview (for an internship) at 10 am across town. And that’s early for me. Recently I’ve went to bed really late and slept late. When you do that, you don’t see the daylight. It’s getting dark already at about 3.30 pm. The same if you wake up at 8 am, it’s still dark.

When I studied photography in Helsinki Design School, I had to get up really early. In the spring and in the summer the daylight comes quicker. It’s really beautiful when you see the sun coming up in the horizon. That’s something you don’t see during the day. Of course there’s the sunset but that’s doesn’t beat the sunrise. There’s a special feeling when you wake up early. But if you’re an night owl like me, that’s something you don’t see that often.

My most productive time is late evening. Especially when it comes to writing fiction. The best ideas come up at night. When you start writing, you can’t stop. You’re on a roll and it’s already past your bedtime but you don’t want to miss the idea. The next morning you have to start again. I prefer writing things down straight away.

The same with being productive in daily things. Mornings are just boring. I just want to sleep as long as I can. If I could I would sleep until nightfall. But sometimes I want to wake up early too. That’s a bit of a dilemma. I want to stay up late but I also want to wake up early. You can’t have it both ways though. I need my 8 hour sleep or I’ll be tired all day. No matter how much coffee I drink. I don’t even want to drink more than 2 cups a day anyway.

In a way I’m bit of both, night owl and early bird. It depends on the day. If I have nothing planned the next day, I don’t bother going to bed early. I’ve been unemployed for so long, it had become a routine. Maybe I’ve become too used to it. My mother suggested once, maybe a night job would suit me better. But then I would feel blue if I get to work when everybody else would go home. Either way, I’ve always been and always will be a night owl.

NaBloPoMo15: One or several expertise

One person is an expert at doing one thing and the other can do more than one. I’m the latter. Not calling myself an expert but I’m good at several things. Knowing more than one thing is an advantage in the work place. Especially in creative work.

Trying not to be over-confident but I’m good at both writing fiction, photographing, videography and editing. Those are crafts you learn by doing. Anyone can become good at them but it takes years of practise. It also helps when you study those kinds of things. Knowing the basics is a good start.

It’s both good to be recognised by being an expert in one thing and being good at many things. Knowing different things well let’s you have variations. I would become bored if I only were good in one thing. If I had to choose one expertise, it would be photography. There will always be someone who is better than me. But at least I know things, not everyone does. That’s something to be proud of.