Thoughts of Brianna

Monday, September 9, 2013

Morning routine. Or, I just read Anna Karenina


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After nearly a year away, I'm so happy to be blogging again! At first wedding planning was taking up all my time, and then it was struggling to budget my time between cooking, reading, cleaning, exercising, Netflix, and quality time with my husband.

I desperately need a schedule to stick to, but I'm sad to say I've chosen sleeping over doing anything productive in the morning--things I'd love to do, like writing or just having a little quiet time before work. I should be shamed into writing up that schedule, because I've married a man who is an expert at budgeting his time.

Colin gets up at 5:00 a.m. and is able to read, write, check the weather, leisurely drink his coffee, eat breakfast, skim the news, check his email, catch up on blogs, clean the office, make a lunch for the day, and talk to me cheerily for half an hour before he leaves for work.

My morning "routine" consists of me zombie-shuffling into the den and making some acknowledging noise when Colin says good morning.  I take a shower and get dressed and ready for work, but rarely do I have enough time left to both have breakfast and make a lunch, or write, or read my Magnificat.


Before you ask, I'm not a coffee drinker. Never have been. However, if tea will help, I might just start.

Anyway, I started thinking about all of this seriously when I finished Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

This is my copy. Isn't it pretty?



What does this novel have to do with the morning routine? Well, as we all know (or those of us who have read A Series of Unfortunate Events know), "The central theme of Anna Karenina is that a rural life of moral simplicity, despite its monotony, is the preferable personal narrative to a daring life of impulsive passion, which only leads to tragedy."

Looking at the way I rush out the door in the morning, I could use a little monotony in my life. Let's look at the text!
When he was dressed, Stepan Arkadyevitch sprinkled some scent on himself, pulled down his shirt-cuffs, distributed into his pockets his cigarettes, pocketbook, matches, and watch with its double chain and seals, and shaking out his handkerchief, feeling himself clean, fragrant, healthy, and physically at ease, in spite of his unhappiness, he walked with a slight swing on each leg into the dining-room, where coffee was already waiting for him, and beside the coffee, letters and papers from the office (6).
A bad example of a great routine. The reason Stepan is unhappy is that his wife has just found out about his adultery.  If his conscience was wholly intact, he would probably deviate from his routine for this one day. However, fashionable society approves of his affair, and he only feels slightly unhappy that his wife is devastated. I hope that I never put early morning writing or relaxation above fixing a serious problem with my family!

Let's go to Stepan's brother-in-law, Alexey Alexandrovitch.

Every minute of Alexey Alexandrovitch's life was portioned out and occupied. And to make time to get through all that lay before him every day, he adhered to the strictest punctuality. "Unhasting and unresting," was his motto. He came into the dining-hall, greeted every one, and hurriedly sat down, smiling to his wife (109).
Monotony is fine, but this is the rapid pace of a politician's life. I'm looking for a morning where there is time to rest, and freedom to do more than just be ready for work. I'm not eager to measure out my life in coffee spoons, nor do I want to have every single moment accounted for. I'm leaving room for surprises and for unexpected moments, like watching hummingbirds, turtles, and rabbits in our backyard.

What about Vronsky? His wild love affair with Anna must mean he has a devil-may-care attitude about his day.
In spite of Vronsky's apparently frivolous life in society, he was a man who hated irregularity...In order to keep his affairs in some sort of order, he used about five times a year (more or less frequently, according to circumstances) to shut himself up alone and put all his affairs into definite shape. This he used to call his day of reckoning or faire la lessive.
 On waking up the day after the races, Vronsky put on a white linen coat, and without shaving or taking his bath, he distributed about the table moneys, bills, and letters, and set to work. Petritsky, who knew he was ill-tempered on such occasions, on waking up and seeing his comrade at the writing-table, quietly dressed and went out without getting in his way (300).
Oh. Behind the scenes, Vronsky is just as serious as the other two men about having these moments to get affairs in order (I wonder if Tolstoy punned on "affairs" in the original Russian?). Vronsky might be on time with his bills, but he, like Stepan has a moral mayhem.

The character that's harder for me to place is Konstantin Levin. Levin is a wealthy landowner from the country, and he always feels like a fish out of water whenever he meets with Stepan Arkadyevitch, Vronsky or any of the stylish set from Moscow or St. Petersburg. However, he too becomes obsessed with routine--he has a plan to revolutionize the farming process in his district, using all new machines and methods. Much to his frustration, the peasants are having none of it. They are satisfied with the slow tread of the seasons that they have farmed by for centuries.

Levin has another obstacle to his establishment of routine that the other men do not--he is afraid.
Levin...withdrew behind the screen, and put out the candle, but for a long while he could not sleep. The question how to live had hardly begun to grow a little clearer to him, when a new, insoluble question presented itself--death (347).
Levin wavers between life and death for the rest of the novel--he marries and starts a family, but constantly is tempted to suicide because he is unable to decipher the meaning of life. I recommend that you follow Levin's story yourself--it's a fascinating account of his thought process as he travels ever closer to conversion--but I will tell you that he finds the clarity of purpose that is the foundation for a good routine. He finds that no matter how many mistakes he makes in life, that does not mean he has wasted it. If he has figured out how to live, he has already figured out how to die.

So, in establishing a routine for myself, I will not become frustrated when things don't get done. I won't fret the wasted moments. I won't become annoyed if there are interruptions. The purpose of my organization and routine will be to live a better life, to put friends and family first, and to offer my work to God.

What is your morning routine? Any tips for management of time?

As some parting fun, here are some of my favorite movie routines:



Clearly, mornings are better with a song!

2 comments:

  1. Love your post!! I also really like your copy of Anna Karenina.
    I can totally relate to your struggles with routine. I found that I only ever had a good routine when I had to use all the time I had, for example when I was working part-time during my senior year. The most important thing is to go to sleep and wake up at the same time. Also, you can't plan for spontaneity, so don't bother, just go with it when it interrupts your normal routine if you think it's worth it.
    I also think it's wrong to praise monotony. Monotony is name we give to the rhythm of life when we aren't listening to the music it makes. No one should want monotony, they should want meter. And I believe there are some very hectic lives that still have that underlying meter while at the same time appearing quite lacking in the breakfast routine department.

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  2. I absolutely love how you describe it: "No one should want monotony, they should want meter." You're quite right!

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