Sunrise vs Sunset

For a change, a RL topic.

On the 19th/20th, I decided I was going to stay up all night. Not for any particular reason at the time, but at around 2am, it became apparent I was going to watch the sun rise. Now, I have never seen a sunrise before. Plenty of sunsets, and I'm the kind of guy that enjoys them. But I always figured sunrises would be a boring 'oh shit the suns up'. I left my house at 5:46am, the interwebs said the sunrise would be at around 5:54am. Plenty of time to get where I was going.

I have a terrible sense of direction, I knew where I was going. There's a park about 500 metres down the road from my house, however I didn't know where the sun was going to rise from. I didn't really even think about it until I got there. It had already started when I got there at around 5:49, and I couldn't see much of it until I climbed a tree to see over the houses.

It was by no means spectacular. I enjoyed it, it was great, but it didn't have the colour contrasts, and other things the sunset has. All the colours were between white/yellow/orange. As I sat in the tree, I considered the comparison you could have between sunsets and sunrises, and I've determined that even though sunsets look much better, I prefer the sunrise. Here's why:

For a sunrise, it requires some form of dedication to it. Especially for me. It's not very often that I'm awake and willing to move at 5:30am. Sunset on the other hand, look out your window at 7:30pm, and there it is. A sunrise gives me a sense of accomplishment in this way. I'm awake early, and prepared for what the day has for me.

A sunset feels like the ending of something. Generally it's obviously the daytime, but I feel it's something more. It's a closing of the day, farewelling the sun while you go about your final jobs for the night and prepare to sleep. A sunrise on the other hand is welcoming a new day, a fresh beginning, the start of something new. It seems like it's almost a half empty/half full argument, when a sunset occurs, you're leaving that day behind, sometimes because you wont want to think of it again.

While I began walking home (which I didn't want to do, but I said I would be home by 6:10), it began to rain. I don't normally enjoy walking in the rain, I don't hate it, but it's not something I'd purposely do. However, at this stage I was ready for anything the day could throw at me. The rain didn't bother me a bit, in fact, I encouraged it to continue, so I could feel the early morning water on my skin, and the smell of the fresh grass and rain in the air. I was prepared for anything.

It's 6:39am. I'm finished with my incoherent ramblings, and hope that what I wrote made sense to somebody. Please let me know your thoughts.

I am prepared for the day.