blog – Coffee With John

“Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted”

– Marthe Troly-Curtin.

I am sure I am not the first proponent, but I suggest we think about how we invest our time rather than how we waste or spend our time.

Yes, we do let time slip out of our hands each day through endless distractions—social media, online games, and endless scrolling on the internet. What I am suggesting is that we be deliberate about how we choose to engage with the time in our day.

Dedicate 10, 15, or even 45 minutes to activities that bring joy, enhance your life, or foster growth—even if they seem trivial to others.

Juggle a soccer ball, meditate, read a fantasy book, get out of the house for a walk, meet a friend for coffee, or do whatever fancies you, but do something that takes you out of your routine. Invest in yourself.

The hour talking to my coffee mate for this round of Coffee with John inspired this line of thought. Outside of social gatherings and the confinements of the yoga studio where we have known each other for a few years now, I didn’t know much about my coffee companion.

The hour investment has yielded many dividends. It has cultivated a friendship with a wonderful, generous person and introduced me to resources, musicians, restaurants, and more previously unknowns to me.

It is easy to say no to new experiences or dedicate a slot of our time to breaking our daily routines. My coffee mate could have said no to my invitation to be part of this project, but she took the risk of investing an hour away from her responsibilities and daily habits. I hope that investment has brought her as much of a return as it has for me.

My challenge is for you to find a dedicated time to invest in one activity that might enrich your life, from a small task you have been dreading to something you have always wanted to accomplish like learning photography.

You might need to overcome a fear, set aside time away from family, or make a monetary investment. Those challenges will seem insignificant as you break through, opening new horizons and realms of possibilities. If those challenges overwhelm you, I suggest you read Atomic Habits by James Clear. His whole principle is about taking small steps to accomplish your goals.

My challenge: learn how to juggle a soccer ball.

Coffee with John – November 5, 2024

What do I do with the stories people tell me over these meetings? What do I write about after each meeting?

Since those questions have come up on some of my last meetups, let me address them as part of this entry.

Honestly, aside from perhaps informing my write-ups and giving me a window into those joining me, rarely do I write directly about what people tell me. Also, while there are exemptions, rarely do identify my coffee mates

No matter the subject, I treat the conversations as an intimate moment shared among two people. I don’t interview people nor do I feel I am in the position to share other people’s stories.

So what do I write about? Sometimes is about a feeling, an idea sparked by the conversation, or a reflection ignited by my feelings and the experience at the moment. Sometimes the ideas come immediately, and other times,it takes me sitting on and punctuating what I got out of the interaction.

Ultimately, I want to focus on a positive theme/concept inspired by the meeting.

Speaking of, the theme that jumped out to me the most from CWJ#99 is that of resilience. I am always amazed to hear how people have overcome the cards that life has given them.

Stressful, traumatic, and painful events can mark you. Those experiences can lead us to a destructive path or a place where we can’t move from, rendering us stuck in unhealthy patterns, relationships, and emotions of fear, anxiety and stress.

The challenge is always to turn adversity into a beautiful question or quest that goes beyond ourselves, fear, sadness, resentment, guilt, anxiety, or whatever negative emotions we carry into different aspects of our lives.

With all the trauma brought upon the pandemic, that is a challenge we as a collective may be wrestling with as we move into a new norm. I am not going to offer any answers. What I will say is that I hope part of the answers include a path full of discoveries where we can all explore the many big and small possibilities life offers each day, leading to better relations with others and ourselves.

For inspiration, as we all look for a path of resilience, I encourage you to check out the self-published book of poetry (currently only available in Spanish) by Kurma Murrain, my coffee mate for this round. Also, you may check out her blog to learn more about this Colombian native making a mark as a poet and community advocate in Charlotte, NC.

My hope is that poetry and discovering your voice and the artist within you become part of your healing and tools of resilience.

Tag: blog

129 Coffee with John

“Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted”

#99 Coffee with John