The Magical Bean

“I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake.” –Lewis Black

I didn’t realize how much coffee helps until I played a cat sudoku game right after a long nap and a cup of coffee. I was whizzing through those puzzles.

It’s funny because for a long time, I was jealous of coffee drinkers. They’d talk about how much coffee was a magical bean and how they could not have written a book without it. Yes, I started drinking coffee to increase my writing abilities, which makes me laugh now.

It didn’t happen overnight. I didn’t like the way it tasted for a long time but then I realized I just had to learn how I liked my coffee. It did take quite a bit of trial and error, but now it’s a part of my daily productivity.

What I have learned is that coffee does not aid in pumping out novels faster, but it does help corral a short burst of decent working brain cells to finish at least a paragraph and in some cases that require research, a properly worded sentence.

How is coffee part of your daily routine?

The Dance Between Chaos and Order

We know that showing up with discipline and consistency changes us, but we forget sometimes that not showing up changes us too. If we choose not to show up, we simply succumb to this thing called entropy. It happens even when we’re showing up and there’s no real way to avoid it. Entropy is the idea that the state of our world is always moving toward maximum chaos. According to entropy this is the natural state of things. When we choose not to bring order, we simply succumb to the nature of this world.

We bring order into the nature of our world.

When we show up to our disciplines, we bring something human and I would say divine into this world.

I have a deep appreciation for thoughtful order. Not generalized one size fits all order, but mindful and intimate order. (That sounds unintentionally like a kink and that’s not my intention here.)

Human beings create order from chaos. Is there some moral way to handle chaos and order, that’s another topic for another day. But I do like how far we’ve come with indoor bathrooms and cleaning products and the different ways we’re able to survive disease. I appreciate architecture and the humanities that inspire us to fight regardless of impending chaos. We did those things. We’ve brought humanity this far with our curiosities and obsessions.

With all the being said, I also love a little chaos to wrangle up. Generally, on spreadsheets or disorganized placement of people. But I love stars. I love the way nature spreads but how it also easily makes way for a path walked daily.

It’s the dance between order and chaos that I have a deep appreciation for.

A Badge of Daily Experiences

We all have been through all sorts of things in life. It’s an honor to have a badge of daily experiences to share, even the mundane ones. I often get caught up in works of art that shine light on the mundane because it’s the most forgotten aspect of living. Doing the same thing every day is boring. Eating the same food every day is boring. At the same time those things hold discipline and consistency even when everything else in the world seems to be going sideways. I am coming to believe that a boring life is a luxury even more than 5-star restaurants and traveling across the world. I think those things are wonderful and I do enjoy both when the opportunity arises. But those experiences don’t take away from the daily walk of life as we transform into something new one day at a time.

Liberated Bird

A bird at flight slips down into the

the rushing movement around town.

He can lift to the sky at any moment

to get away from it all.

The scent of fresh roasted coffee beans

marinates the free bird’s feathers

before he lifts again to the open air

where the busyness of the town can’t reach.

Saschia ✨Jayne✨ Johnson

Stuck on What to Write About?

Finding the topic to write about isn’t always a walk in the park. A million things could run through our minds throughout the day and not one thought remains when we sit to write. First off this is completely normal. There’s nothing wrong with you. Second off, this is a great excuse to do two things. A. Go back to bare minimum writing. Beginner writing. B. Use your creativity to think some new format up.

These aren’t easier options. They are just options. I think sometimes as writers we put too much pressure on ourselves to show up. It’s nice to have landing pads like A and B when the pressure is weighing heavy on us. Writing is what makes you a writer so as long as you’re writing, you’re a writer.

I hope you have some amazing writing sessions.

Happy Writing!

Thoughts on Getting Started

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. –Lao Tzu

We all get started in our own way. Sometimes we jump in before we know what’s really going on. Sometimes we over think and complicate things before we even take our first step. And sometimes it’s the perfect timing when we show up and it all just magically fits together. I think that’s just the way it works. After spending time in specific industries, you can learn when to jump but outside of the industry, we are all just trying to figure things out in our own ways.

Of all the ways to get started, the best way is to start. And that’s my great life advice for you today.