Transcendent moments

Thoreau wrote, in "Walden":

...The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night. Little is to be expected of that day, if it can be called a day, to which we are not awakened by our Genius, but by the mechanical nudgings of some servitor, are not awakened by our own newly acquired force and aspirations from within,...

I believe that Thoreau is referring to transcending the normal hum-drum Sheeple thinking that we Americans tend to fall into, and thinking lofty outside-the-box thoughts. But have you every noticed the brief moments that occur upon waking, or upon falling asleep, the Genius that resides within? Those that study such subjects call this the theta state of brain activity. That brief interlude between sleep and wakefulness.

Even without having a proper name for this phenomenon I first became aware and began utilizing these moments during college. After studying long hours for tests, cramming my head full of facts and figures all becoming more muddled with each newly introduced bit, I found if I could capture this moment on waking and spend it with a brief review of my studies it became almost a photographic memory. I could see and picture notes, books and whatever other study materials I had poured through.

Runners, gardeners and those given to meditation also can capture the theta state. Being relaxed and taking part in monotonous and repetitive activities can free the mind from background clutter and let the creativity of the theta state come to the forefront. During these moments one is prone to spontaneous idea generation and pulling together concepts that may be more difficult from the scattered state of thinking we may normally find ourselves in.

Thoreau also writes in "Walden":

The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face?

Again, I think Thoreau's meaning of awake is more of a transcendent wakefulness, one that says, "be special, think fresh and lofty things, reach for the skies", and not one of capturing the brief theta moments. But these moments whether from at the edge of sleep or from meditation or other activities can be a great launching pad to catch the notions to be Thoreau's awake.