There is a very special kind of person who wakes up at an hour when even the birds are questioning their life choices.

Apparently, I am that person.

It’s 5-something in the morning. The house is quiet, the dogs are either sleeping or plotting something, the coffee is brewing, and I am already wide awake. Not because I have somewhere particularly urgent to be, but because my internal operating system apparently doesn’t recognize the concept of a snooze button.

I actually love early mornings. There’s something wonderfully selfish about having a few hours before the world starts demanding things. No emails, no meetings, no questions, no one asking where something is that is sitting directly in front of them.

Just me, coffee, and the opportunity to think about absolutely everything and absolutely nothing.

Of course, the problem with being awake this early is that your brain has unlimited access to your thoughts. Yesterday’s conversation gets reviewed. Tomorrow’s schedule gets negotiated. A random memory from 1997 makes an unexpected appearance. And suddenly you’re wondering whether you should reorganize a closet, change your entire life philosophy, or Google something that will probably lead you down a three-hour rabbit hole.

Psychologically speaking, perhaps early mornings are when our brains are least supervised.

I’ve decided that the early morning crowd is divided into two categories: people who wake up early because they’re disciplined, and people who wake up early because their brains are apparently running a 24-hour customer service department.

I’m somewhere in between.

And honestly, I don’t mind. There is something comforting about having a little time that belongs exclusively to you before the circus begins.

So, if you’re reading this at an unreasonable hour, welcome. We’re probably the same people. Slightly overcaffeinated, prematurely productive, and already wondering what the day is going to throw at us.

The rest of the world can catch up.

It’s 6 a.m. Somewhere, someone is still sleeping. I wish them well. I have things to overthink.