This was my second Fluid State. Last year we had an amazing time in big brick warehouse. There were a good number of promo-spots from people who seemed to know what they were talking about. The whisky & cheese tasting session was an awesome experience, one that’s stuck with me all year (I still profess the wonder of whisky and cheese to anyone who will listen). The speakeasy upstairs was a great place to take a break. I was impressed by the guys on the wine stall, had fun drinking from the gin ice-luge (discovering Old Tom in the process), was talked through how to prepare a great gin cocktail, ate my fill of porky goodness at the gin palace, had a nice chat with the bouncers, enjoyed myself with the folks on the Japan stall… all in all, it was a great night. The atmosphere was awesome, the props set a great scene, the performance art was suitable surreal and there were lots of interesting people floating about.

And now on to this year.

There was a white box. It was loud. It was cold.

Downstairs, our introduction in to the proceedings was the (rather fun, if completely un-food-related) invisible baseball. Great start. Then we got told to go buy some tickets.

We had a wander, got some exciting glimpses of snakes and liquid nitrogen before making our way to the Palm Court, which looked rather akin to a school cafe and was obnoxiously loud. We got given (for six pounds, I’ll point out) three half shots of some whiskies. No options, no choice. Awesome. Not. Then we had to put up with some cacophonous free form jazz blasted at awful levels by bad speakers a few feet away. Eventually the real jazz band turned up and was just as cacophonous, though obviously skilled. I couldn’t hear the voice of our tasting leader over the racket. There was no personal touch. No one-on-one. No discussion and no point to this awful experience. There was no palate cleanser and nothing to eat, which ensured we gained as little knowledge and pleasure as possible.

Despite this, we decided to try the nitrogen thing. I left most of my deconstructed margherita as it tasted like sour milk. Still, the guys behind the stall were interesting. There was something going on in one of the cubicles that seemed to be three men massaging a confused girl.

We quickly moved on to what turned out to be a stall run by Crussh. Yes, Crussh, those well-known epicurians, those masters of cocktails, those… er… wait. The smoothie people? Okay. So we got given three cocktails which were, on reflection, smoothies with alcohol in them. Bad smoothies. And omg. The wheatgrass thing? Foul. Another drink unfinished. At this point I spotted what appeared to be a bloody-mary making contraption on the wall. Realising that these few pieces of plywood were the main constituent of the “steam-punk” event on Sunday, I decided I wouldn’t be bothering with that despite already having tickets.

We left, hungry, sober and with a lingering taste of wheatgrass in our mouths.

Our sub-concious mind makes a decision up to six seconds before we become consciously aware of it.. This has far-reaching implications for philosophy that don’t stop at the sensationalist level.

In BBC Horizon’s The Secret You, Marcus du Sautoy explores the nature of consciousness. To my mind, the most interesting of the subjects was that of an experiment performed by Dr John-Dylan Haynes in Berlin. Marcus takes part in the experiment himself (read his Times article) and finds himself profoundly affected by the idea that someone else can be conscious of his decision before he himself is aware he has made one.

I find this concept intriguing for other reasons.

We can think of the conscious mind as one with purpose and direction. Like an arrow (though perhaps a meandering one), we forge a path to our destination. Now we discover that our conscious mind is not the tip of the arrow but merely an observer. It watches the flight of the arrow with the false belief that it is in control.

Some would think of this as reason for despair, as Marcus du Sautoy seems to. I see it as enlightenment. By accepting that we are not in control, we free ourselves of a false belief. We no longer have to charge head-on in to obstructions and can instead look at them from an external point of view. We can consider our actions, make adjustments and influence future decisions. We can learn and we can predict. We can imagine a future with us in it.

From the Tao De Ching:

The best of man is like water,
Which benefits all things, and does not contend with them,
Which flows in places that others disdain,
Where it is in harmony with the Way.

This is translated in to the Tao ideal, mind like water. In understanding that we are not the tip of the arrow, we see that we do not have to fight our nature, nor to we have to fight the world around us. Our conscious mind does not control our actions and we should not try to make it do so.

I was thinking about these concepts this morning as I was lying in bed, the alarm just having gone off. I was considering getting up and getting dressed. I don’t remember at any point making the conscious decision to get out of bed. Instead, I thought about all the reasons why I might do so. I thought about work and what time I needed to be in. I thought about the cold outside and the warmth of the duvet. I became aware that the decision was already made. I was going to get out of bed. I was going to get dressed. The only question was when it was going to happen. I decided to stop thinking about it and, a short time later, I got up and started putting on my clothes.

Next time you do something, consider when the decision to do it was made. When did you decide to have a cup of tea? It wasn’t at the moment of turning the kettle on, that is certain. Your decision to go to work regularly could well have been made years ago. I doubt you consciously decide to go to work every morning. You don’t have a discussion with yourself about whether to put on your pants or whether to go to work naked. You just do it and, after the fact, assume that it was because you meant to.

I’m going to leave that there for now and go and get some work done.

Eight simple steps towards making you a morning person.

Aside from excessive alliteration, there are a great many techniques to make your mornings a little easier to handle. I’ve gathered a heap of easy-to-follow techniques that will help you get out the right side of bed.

Breakfast within 45 minutes

By eating early in the morning, you are telling your body “Relax. There’s food available. No need to worry.” This not only calms your nerves but sets your metabolism up for the day. This reduces cravings for high-sugar, high-fat items as your body understands that it’s going to get the calories it needs. When you wake up in the morning you have something to wake up for: a tasty breakfast. Keep fruit, juice, milk, bread and cereals in the house for a quick start, or if you’re feeling adventurous think about the possibility of an Asian breakfast such as soup noodles. An automatic tea or coffee machine is a boon, as waking up to the smell of a fresh brew is just shy of heaven.

A light dinner, as early as you can

Food takes time to digest. A heavy meal sitting in your stomach can be uncomfortable as you try to sleep. You are more likely to wake up and more likely to need a toilet break in the middle of the night. Eat a light dinner and eat it early if you can. If you eat a good breakfast in the morning, you’ll soon get used to having lunch as your main meal of the day.

No caffeine for 8 hours before bed

The half-life of caffeine is around 4-5 hours. This means caffeine that went in to your system at 8pm is still going strong at 12pm and doesn’t fully disappear until the next morning. Cue one night of restless sleep. Make the last cup of the day at 3pm and you’ll find that when 11 o’clock comes around, you’ll be ready for bed.

No bright lights late at night

Turn off the television, turn off the computer, dim the lights in the living room and settle down with a hot drink and a book. Your metabolism reacts to bright lights as though they are the sun. They keep you alert and mean that when you do go to bed, your body still thinks it is day time. Try not to confuse it and get the light level down at least an hour or two before bed.

Simulate sunrise

Your light sensitivity works the other way around, too. Sunrise lamps that gradually increase the light in your room are a great way to convince your body it’s the right time to get up. You may find that you’ll be able to use one to replace an alarm clock. That’s got to be more pleasant.

Wake up to flowers

Having fresh flowers in your bedroom means you are more likely to wake up in a good mood. People who have flowers in their house are generally less anxious and more compassionate. Also, they’re pretty and smell nice… so what have you got to lose?

Go to bed at regular times

A tried and tested cure for insomnia is enforcing regular hours on your sleep cycle. Go to bed and get up at the same times every day, including weekends, whether you are tired or not. You will soon train your body to follow the pattern you’ve set. You’ll find yourself tired at the right time, able to sleep better and waking up before that pesky alarm clock.

Finally, ditch your alarm clock

Waking up without an alarm clock is a fabulous thing. If you can train yourself in to regular hours and better sleep, you should find yourself waking up without one. Soon, you’ll be able to do away with your alarm, the most awful of morning annoyances. Instead, you’ll be waking up to a sun-rise, flowers, fresh coffee and the prospect of a good breakfast and a fabulous day. Doesn’t that sound awesome?