Sunrise

During the pandemic in December 2020, I pulled on my jacket and walked outside to take a photo of the sunrise. The next morning I did the same. For the new year of 2021, I decided to take a photo of each sunrise of the year and post the images with the time of the sunrise to Instagram stories. It was a way to witness the passing of time, real time, during the stagnation and disconnectedness of the quarantine days of Covid 19.

I intended to stop on December 31, 2021. However, the next morning I stepped outside, almost without thought, and took a photo of the sunrise. So began the sunrises of 2021. I knew months before the end of 2022 that I would walk in the snow on January 1, 2023. And so I did.

When does something become a routine, then a habit? When and why does it transcend a habit to become something more, something deeper like a ritual or a ceremony? What is the difference between each and what is the meaning of the distinctions? How does a ritual shape or inform the way that an event is perceived and experienced?

As I begin the third cycle of intentionally witnessing the sunrises, these are some of the questions I am contemplating.