Coffee Shop Musings

It's nothing short of folly to pound away after a vocation without drawing from the wells of salvation.
- Lanier Ivester

Why is it that I find my mind open up and pour out countless words whilst sitting in a coffee shop amidst general chatter, comings and goings, and many distractions? Why is it that I find it easy to let it all fade to the backdrop of my mind and write as if it had been ages since my pen hit the open page?

I kind of wonder myself. Usually, I am one who relishes in the quiet atmosphere where my thoughts are the things that fill the space. But in a coffee shop where people gather and chat and the coffee machines are constantly going, it is somehow an inspiring place for me. It's odd, because another noisy spot may not be that to me in the same  way.

In this place, though, past memories float to me and although they are filled with some grimness, the time spent here was always my enjoyment. My escape from a cold world. And now I can sit here afresh, as if I were just a person living close to downtown who came over the short distance for a soy latte to start the day by scribbling words on these pages.

When I do look up from my page I take notice of how I am very different. If I didn't meld into the brick wall any more. I am the only person with books and a journal. The only one sitting alone. I hear some southern accents. I see families with babies. I see older folk sitting in groups. But God made me exactly like this knowing I may not fit in. And I am okay with that. I have always liked being different. I find myself diving into prayerful thoughts and musings as I ponder about what each person's story is.

My writing is a trifle. It is a meager attempt to use a talent that has a long, long way to grow before it is something great. It is always something good, but has plenty of room to grow into something better.

For that to happen, I need to make sure that I am writing as much as possible, and wherever possible. Be it in a coffee shop, on the edge of a lake, in a garden adorned with blooming flowers, or on the train speeding toward another destination. Different places offer sights and sounds that engage my thoughts in ways that may produce something I wasn't expecting or couldn't have manufactured if I tried elsewhere. Hence, my love of traveling so much.

Coffee shops alter my environment to allow conversations to reach me as I scribble away. It is a place that opens my mind by way of good coffee and words. Words in my head. Words on my pages. Words spoken all around me.

Visiting such public places is fodder for my wonderment to grow. It makes my normal become the abnormal, and that stirs my thoughts as I stir my coffee.

Goodness grows when I am in such a milieu.