Creative Coffee
I’ve gotten up late. Really late, let’s just leave it at that.
It’s too late to make breakfast, so I decide to indulge in a sandwich and a grande mocha at Starbucks.
I would normally sit on the patio, but tonight I sit in my car to eat, because there’s a heat warning, and the air quality from distant forest fires leaves a lot to be desired.
Nevertheless, I wind down my window to get “some” fresh air and to watch the sunset. Yes, it’s that late.
Something—I have no idea what—triggers a childhood memory, something about being free. You know how the brain works. Making odd associations seemingly out of thin air.
Maybe it’s the darkening sky that carefully folds over the light of day, leaving me alone with my thoughts. This was always the cue to go home when I was a child, so as not to be late for supper.
Maybe it’s the sweet rich taste of the mocha, although when I was a kid, there was no Starbucks. The café culture as a general thing to consume hadn’t been invented yet. Or maybe it’s the being out of sync, like when you take a different path one day and end up somewhere unexpected.
Either way, the memory is there and it brings other pieces of my past with it.
And it’s the perfect memory to put in what may turn out to be a memoir, one about being a twin. Tentatively named Betrayed, followed by an ever-changing set of subtitle words, that reveals the tragedy that tore apart our twinhood—is that a word?—and how it took our entire lives to try to fix it. Or maybe I’ll call it How I Lost My Twin or Broken Sisters.
I tap out a few paragraphs in the Notes app on my phone, so the memory will be intact when I get home, and the special words that roll out of my brain while I sit in my car drinking my Starbucks mocha.
Moments like this are not to be taken lightly. They’re precious and bring the momentum needed to forge ahead.
Do you have moments like this? How do you capture them? Or are they fleeting and forgotten by the time you pick up your pen? Does drinking coffee at sunset inspire you? If not, what does?
P.S. a special thank you to those who have subscribed, free and paid, and for those who bought me a coffee or a book. Love and gratitude.
I have a small notebook someone gave me that I carry with me when I think to do so. Otherwise, I make a note when I get home. I prefer pen & paper to other more modern methods. And my ideas often have to "marinate" a bit before I try and whole story.