The coffee pot from the writing prompt

The coffee pot. Sometimes, it is my only savior when I need to feel awake. Used incessantly, like a charm every morning, reminding me yes, it is possible to awaken and move. This might sound counterintuitive for someone who is a yoga instructor, but it is possible to be a yoga instructor/writer/project manager who is just like everyone else. The ritual. Dump the grinds, wash out my reusable filter, take the Trader Joe’s can ou t of the freezer, scoop in the good stuff, pour out the old drip, fill with water, and stick the friend under the magic top. The handle is like an old friend shaking my hand as my feet freeze. The sides of the pot maintain a coffee resin, and the sound and smell of the drip reminds me of my parent’s home outside of Boston. In this way, I wake up. In this way, I can take on the day and attempt to make something beautiful out of it.  The ritual is just as much a part of the security as is the effect of the aromatic bean. Occasionally, I have time to read a few pages of E.B. White’s essays before work, and a sense of settling within the jump of the coffee before I go to the office is lovely. 

Last night, I had a dream that I ran into a teacher of mine from college, though it was really more of a mixture of her and the other inspirational teachers I’ve had throughout the years. She and I spoke chit chat about what I am doing, what she is doing. In my dream, we were at a department store and she was with her family, and I was by myself. She talked about working on some new novels, and how much she loved that she could do what she wanted and get paid for it. When I woke up from sleeping, I realized, I am not doing what serves me best. I am taking too much time in front of the television, shopping, diversion, diversion, diversion. There is a balance, and I am a perfectionist, and I really think that at this point in my life I need the discipline. Maybe it is because of the turning of the season, the beginning of a new year and all that resolution stuff, but I think it is also enough time of being out of the academic world and recognizing that in order to maintain that part of myself, to remember that I am more than a workhorse in the working world, I write. And the coffee pot helps.

Also, check out my new website at www.exhaleasheville.com FINALLY finished it!