There is something about the ritual that does it to me... I think that coffee in the morning is a true act of being an adult. Maybe the only act of being an adult that resonates with me. Coffee has been an act of friendship, a route of escape, a community of connection and a sign of rebellion to morning sleep ins. Coffee has been a part of my life for so long I really don't know what my life would have looked like without it.
The act of going for coffee has been a place where my friends would love me while I felt broken, where I could escape to when life was giving me a bag of lemons and coffee was the place I could go to when I needed to hear the murmuring of constant chatter. A place to break the silence or a place to interrupt the whirlwind of my mind.
I could sit in coffee shops for ages - watching people as they flirted, giggling while people played, feeling the intensity of focused conversation, all the while be in the presence of the scooter squads - listening to their voices hearing their stories. I am not sure if this is real or not, but coffee says to me it is time to think. Time to ponder.
Ponder about life, who we are, what we are doing and what we think. That, or it is an excuse to sit in silence while listening to the words of others while feeling the buzz of concentrated energy.
When I think of coffee I feel my best friends, I am taken back to dancing to disco in the morning and running for the bus - dosing my coffee up with sugar and not minding being late for class. I think about about my parents - housecoats, funky hair and sleepy wondering eyes and a pile of coffee cups in the back of the car. I think about morning time smokes and feeling fancy with a cup in my hand and a smoke in my fingers. The image is beautiful the impact on health not so much.
Coffee represents the repair and rupture of relationships, the love and grief within connection and the show and tell of affection. The amount of coffee that has been bought, the amount of friendship dates, the amount of tears and the amount of laughs over coffee have filled my life to the brim.
Coffee is the nostalgia that brings me back to Saturday morning meetings where kids would run about as the adults would share and contemplate, coffee is the reminder that a hard days work may be upon us, coffee is the excitement of seeing those we love, coffee is the late night party remedy and the early morning saver.
Coffee dates have broken hearts and have healed loneliness. When it comes down to it, coffee has lead to me to the wonderful, the majestic, the wild, the out-layers and everyone in between. For this I am thankful and may the coffee be forever served with free refills on this lifelong journey.
