Hi, friend,
I hope you’re doing well.
I’d like to invite you to sit and join me for a coffee.
Imagine that we’re in a cafe in [insert place]. We’re lucky. Two armchairs — right by the window and super comfy — have just become available. Only a few people are in the cafe; the music is playing at a sweet volume.
After our coffees arrive, we decide we’re going to take out our pens and notebooks we just happen to be carrying (or our phones) and just write a few sentences.
It could be a memory invoked by this experience, or the coffee — or not. It could be what we’re seeing around us, how we’re feeling — or just our thoughts.
Would we dare share what we wrote with each other? With someone else?
Would you post it here, for instance?
Most people who visit this blog stop by for a quick visit but hardly ever leave their thoughts behind.
How about if this time, you stay and write something, not for me but for you.
Just write. Anything.
It doesn’t have to be poetic.
It doesn’t even have to make much sense.
It doesn’t have to be shaped by reality.
It doesn’t even have to be long. Fifty words will do. If fifty is too much, ten will also be great.
I invite you to drop it in the comment section below. 🙂
Our cups are empty now. It’s time to leave.
Thanks for joining me.
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I like this. It reminds that sometimes I just need to stop, think, and be in the moment. For example, I had to stop and read the blog, conjure up the feeling of being in the shop with a coffee and just my thoughts……….
That’s it exactly!!! I love what you wrote. It’s exactly the kind of thing that I have to remind myself to do – especially when we have those little bursts of enjoyment. Just imagine and “be”.
My parents wouldn’t let me have coffee, and even anything coffee-flavored, until I was an adult. They would always tell me how it’s bad for my skin, and caffeine is bad for you. I’m not sure there was any truth to this, but I didn’t mind. There were better tasting beverages anyway. I liked the aroma, but once I tasted it, it was never that pleasant. My mother told me, that one day coffee will start tasting sweet and fragrant, once life has become more bitter than the coffee.
I only got to understand why people drank coffee when I started my job. I needed it to keep me awake. I thought this was me starting to like coffee. But I hadn’t learned to enjoy coffee just yet.
Then, I think it was an autumn day around 6:00PM, I was wandering in Seonyudo, an area near the Han River with a few cafes. I chose a seat facing the big window. Instead of a table, we would have to use the window sill. The sun was setting and an orange glare reflected on the corner of the window. I rarely ever had hot coffee, but it just felt right to have a cup and saucer on the window sill. Once it was placed before me, everything felt right at place.
The cafe felt quieter, and I felt alone in the most comforting way. If I had an iced coffee, I might have finished my drink too quickly to enjoy the ambiance. I had to sip slowly, savoring not only the rich taste, but the environment around me. This was my first ‘real’ cup of coffee.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading your response!! I read it several times already. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me (others). There’s so much there to think about and enjoy.
I felt I could see this café, the Han river on the other side (just last night my mom and I were watching a K-drama which showed a scene of the Han river and we got to talking about it). I could feel the warmth of the setting sun through the café window, and perhaps see you enjoying that first ‘real’ cup of coffee.
My parents also told me when I was younger that I wasn’t allowed coffee because it would stunt my growth and my brain. (Lol – some people might say that that happened anyway 😉) and like you, coffee didn’t taste good until I was much older. I find I enjoy it most when it’s balanced with something a tiny bit sweet on the side.
I think about what your mom said about the bitterness of life making coffee taste better, more fragrant. Do you think that’s true?
I’m glad you were happy to read my thoughts! And, I do agree with what she said.
As life grows more hectic and you have more responsibilities weighing you down, there’s less time when you can relax and return to your inner child.
You have to make an actual effort to have time for yourself, whereas when you’re younger those moments effortlessly come to you. (Well, this is my experience)
Anyway, for me having a cup of coffee are one of the times when you can connect to yourself, and experience 여유 (yeoyu).
I don’t know if there’s an exact English word for 여유(yeoyu) and all its nuances, so let me explain what it is.
It means you have extra time, you feel mentally rich, you feel balanced, and you have plenty of resources. But, 여유 yeoyu isn’t focused on material wealth. It’s more about the state of mind, and how relaxed you are for having what’s enough for you – time, money, space, anything really.
You feel calm and unhurried, because you have what you need.
You can enjoy your day with out feeling rushed or pressured.
People with a lot of 여유 can savor life’s activities and not rush through them.
Having a nice cup of coffee at a cafe, or having a coffee break with coworkers are all moments of 여유 we experience amidst the chaos we call life. As I grow older, I’ve learned how precious these moments are, and that has made me realize that coffee (=여유) taste better when life’s more bitter.
Cause Lisbon was the last place I shared a cup of coffee in the outdoors with anyone.
I get my “ first cup” at 4:30 a.m. It marks a nice start to my day. It’s very hot, creamy, not sweet and it brings with it a special aroma. I plan my day between sips.
However, I love the joy of sharing a cup of coffee (true blend) with a true-blue sistah sitting in the cool air outside watching people pass by. Such an entertaining activity. There are all colors, shapes, sizes, ages, genders, dressed as the temperature dictates. I smile at those who share a glance with me and wait for the reflection of my smile on their faces.
Then I take the last sip and sigh. Life is good. I’m with my two sistah in Lisbon.
Ahhh two very fine activities — having a first cup’a coffee + people watching. People watching is a lovely past time. Why did you choose Lisbon?