Posted: 20/06/21

Sunrise 23 May 2021 - Emma Medley

Well, that was something.  A lot to process.  I feel as though I’ve just been part of something special . . . a joint experience with over 700 other people.  Some of them strangers, some of them I know or will know.  Each with their own reasons for doing this and each having their own unique experience.  I did it for an hour’s thinking time – something I don’t get with an 18-month-old at home.  I thought I would find it peaceful, and in some ways it was – watching the quiet streets and the city slowly wake up – but it turns out, when given an hour to myself, I don’t know how to be peaceful and my mind goes into overdrive.  Here are some of my thoughts.  I wonder if anyone else had the same . . . . 

• Ooh, there’s the sun peeping up.  Wow, it’s beautiful.  And red. 

• I’m so lucky with this weather after days of heavy rain. 
• Is that artificial light or the glow from the sunrise? 
• The city looks different from up here.  There’s so much to look at, how can I possibly take it all in? 
• What IS that building? 
• I’ve had so many different experiences in these places before me – that’s where I did X/watched Y/met Z, etc. 
• Hull Royal.  Watched my grandma pass away there.  Gave birth to my son there.  How many people are dying or being born under my watch?  Will someone be watching over the city when I have a second child?  I hope I’m lucky enough for that to happen. 
• How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.