Dear Earth, I woke to a dance.

Our Little Dog was poorly last night, and so for the second time this week we counted the hours until morning.

“And?” I hear new mothers and insomniacs say. I salute all those who function on little sleep. I am feeble when it comes to needing decent chunks of it, and sleeplessness leaves me feeling under-resourced and a little panicky.

The cats kicked me out of bed just after seven, and I went into my office. I was greeted by the dark duvet of your skirts, dear Earth, jewelled with street lamps and the swoosh of car headlights. Brother Sun was shining a gentle light into your vaults, and the purple was delicious.

The two of you perform this gracious dance every morning, regardless of what else is happening on your globe. You say: ‘I’ll move like this, and you move like that.’ Brother Sun says: ‘I’ll bathe you in light, and then soothe you with dark.’ You say: ‘Can we keep dancing?’ Brother Sun says: ‘For a very very very long time.’

Watching you both reminded me of the enormity of everything. What’s a sleepless night? Watching you reassured me of your reliability. Watching you gave me a little fizz of pleasure at the beauty that blesses us.

I did feel a teensy bit jealous of Little Dog as she lazed in her cosy bed this morning, as I started my busy day. She only deigned to raise her head for a corner of toast so I could check that she was okay.

I’m glad she’s feeling better. And I’m feeling better too – being tired feels okay now. Maybe I’ll be grumpy later, maybe not. Tonight Brother Sun will slide away from view and I can go to sleep smiling at your dance.

Love, Satya <3