Blog13.4am is Stupid Early

Normally, I'm up with the sun, but 4am is stupid early. The reason: a podcast interview. Living in the UK, my guest is 8 hours further along in her day and this time fit her schedule. I was happy to do it.

The pre-dawn hour didn’t rattle me as much as the hiccup in routine did. Hiccups can’t be ignored. They force us to pay attention to the moment. Typically, on interview days, I slowly drop into the zone, tweaking the question outline and opener. Come to think of it, I over-fuss Today, that luxury wasn’t available. I had to nail it right away.

Then around 4:30 I noticed a shift. The drowsy fog peeled away from behind my eyes and my limbs lightened. Suddenly alert, not anxious driven, but calm and more direct. The house was quiet. Everyone would be asleep for hours, so the task ahead of me was my only worry. Most mornings, I’ve completed my daily logistical gymnastics before I even get out of bed. Not today, I found something the meditators have long promised me: space and focus.

Since one worry is never enough, I needed another. Would I be ‘on’ enough to carry this interview? As in, would the outcome be impacted by the early hour and disruption to my routine. To my mind, it definitely did, skewing positively.

‘Truth’ may be a bit far, but I realized two fundamental things as they relate to my role on the Kook Jester Show. My guest is the star, not me, so I didn’t need to be ‘on’. Yes, the host is largely responsible for how the story shapes up and whether the other person has a good time. However, if I do my job well, I should slide into the background. To achieve that end, my questions must act like conduits, transferring energy from my guest to the listener. That’s all. Sometimes they are short and direct, others are prefaced with a personal anecdote, some even get to be clever. And slowly, ever so slowly, I’m learning to match the right question with each moment.

Having realized this only a few minutes ago, I am by no no expert. This knowledge is applicable for situations far beyond my podcast bubble. Latent energy is everywhere. People are just waiting for permission to release it.