I completely intended for this gratitude series to be one-a-day from December 1st until December 25th – oops! There are still many things that I want to express gratitude for from this year – so I’m going to wrap up the year with the rest of my posts that have been on my to-do list.
I have a weird relationship with coffee. In high school, I guzzled bottled frappucinos like crazy and wondered why I had trouble falling asleep at night. In college, I learned about caffeine (it really took me that long!), and used coffee from the dining hall to carry me through long all-nighters. After college, I took advantage of my office’s neverending stash of iced coffee to adjust to the 9-to-5 life.
As time has gone on, I’ve realized that bad sleep was affecting my life negatively and focused more and more on my sleep hygiene. I’ve alternately tried cutting out caffeine all together, replacing coffee for black tea, replacing coffee for green tea, and only drinking coffee when I felt like I “needed it” to get me through a long day of meetings or exploring a new city while travelling. I love the smell and taste of coffee, but, on the other hand, the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life (so far!) has been intense caffeine headaches.
In quarantine, however, I’ve learned to lean on little pleasures to carry me through the day, and coffee has emerged as one of those many little pleasures. At first, I wanted to go to each of the coffee shops in my neighborhood every morning to support them through the pandemic, but quickly realized that this was not financially sustainable! Instead, I decided to invest in a French press and bags of locally roasted beans to make coffee at home.
Coffee has carried me through many rough mornings throughout this year. Boiling the water, grinding the beans, and pouring out my morning cup has become a grounding ritual, and a way to start my day without jumping straight into work!
Trisha Serquina 