Do you know what I’d love to see more of? Coffee conversations. That warm and welcoming atmosphere that makes you feel that you can talk about almost anything and not have it result in chairs flying or tables flipping.
It’s not so much about having coffee itself as it is about the nature of the conversations that it can bring out. There seems to be far less of them these days. Dare I say it, it might be that we’re afraid to start them anymore, fearing that these conversations turn into confrontations. On another extreme, we felt it insignificant to resolve the matter with one when we could broadcast a general message to the masses. For one reason or another, the indirect route came across as the better option. Whenever we began to discuss life directly with another, it always seemed to have left us exposed, judged, helpless, hopeless, and the like. We had a choice—confront any negativity face to face, or cater our words to the masses in the hopes that someone—anyone—confirms our beliefs, all the while cushioning any criticism behind the cover of their support. In more traditional terms, some words come to mind that all too closely resemble these circumstances: it’s called gossip, backbiting, slander. And I get it. After all, whenever we began talking about life, it felt like we were being sucked into some twisted horror story, chased by a bloodthirsty murderer with a mask, all to the tune of the grinding and growling of the chainsaw ready to slice us in half.
Maybe we should be more forgiving on ourselves and towards others by allowing our actions to have the space to breathe, the space to develop; to be able to have heart to heart discussions that bring us clarity and leave us hopeful of what’s to come, no matter the challenges that lie ahead. To be able to talk about life with coffee, without the fear of having it always end with pizzas being served with pineapples on top. In the same words as the Hummingbird’s Journal had written it, to have coffee and talk to you about the season of grief without the IG filter. I want to end this the same way the blogger had begun it, by asking,
If we were having coffee, what would you tell me?
It’s a style of conversation I’d have loved to see more of one day.
Strangely Iridescent 
Hi Irid, long time no talk! Thank you so much for giving a shout out to the coffee post. Believe it or not the coffee posts are usually the most popular ones 🙂 . I think for much of the same reasons that you mention, because they create a warm and welcoming atmosphere to talk about life. I would share that it’s been a busy/stressful past weeks, but I finally found a break again. I work as a teacher, so I think there was a learning curve with changing learning to the online format. So many changes to adapt to. I think this pandemic has been causing so much change to how things were usually done, so I’m sure everyone’s had to face change in some way. I’m currently relying on my faith to keep strong (as I always should, but sometime don’t). How are you and your family?
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Hi Andrea, great to hear from you again! Thankfully, my family and I are well, and hope you are too.
It totally sounds reasonable that your past few weeks would be busy given what you said. Those changes really keep you on your feet, and when you throw the duties of teaching into the mix, then I would’ve thought that you were amazing for being able to keep up.
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