Growing up I hated coffee. Of course, kids hate coffee. Or rather, they used to. Nowadays, you see kids in the coffee shops with their lattes in hand. How did that happen? My son does not care for coffee. Nor does he drink soda. He doesn’t do any of those despite my love of coffee and soda. Let me rephrase that. I love soda. I need coffee. Although, I don’t drink coffee past noon. Just don’t. At that point in time, what’s the point? Drinking coffee is a quite purposeful endeavor for me. It wakes me up. It gets me to the gym by 6am or so. And, it grounds me.

Last weekend I was running around and around. I was trying to settle into my place. I could not readily do so considering that I had no furniture. I had a coffee maker but no utensils and no creamer. I ran out to buy some quick items when I came across a diner. Well, not just any diner. It’s a rather famous “diner”. What consitutes a diner? Does it have to have the word diner in its name? I suppose it doesn’t matter. Not for this story, anyway.

After a few seconds of checking my to-do list, I decided to go inside and have a cup of coffee. I needed to sit on something other than a floor. I needed to sit and stare into a hectic space. Trust me that makes sense to those in the midst of empty chaos.

I took a booth seat and ordered my foamy rich coffee. And, then I gloriously sipped it soothing my scratchy throat. For a few minutes I felt whole and centered. I was entertained while grounded. I needed a few minutes to just enjoy the newness of my situation instead of continuing to run back and forth filling empty space. I felt quite luxurious just sitting. And, that is what coffee does for me. I typically do not drink it on the run, the way many New Yorkers do. I manage to drink two large cups of coffee in 15 minutes. It may seem crazy to do so and that I am guzzling my coffee. But, I am not. Every morning I sit and drink my coffee and just take it all in. It is quite a treat to do so in this fast-paced life. And, it may not even seem like a treat to others. To me, however, it grounds me and gets me to just be even for just a few minutes.