my happy place

The semester has sunk it's teeth deep in my life. The colorful scribbling in my planner prove the rigor of a scholarly and social life. With junior year comes serious talk of the future. My classes blur together as I wade deeper into my major. Everyday I'm hit with words of community, relationships, growth, and authenticity until my head spins. I find myself in junior life crisis as I begin to question what the hell I'm doing. It's in these moments that turn into days of apathy, frustration, doubts, and business that I long for my happy place, for a sanctuary. Days like today.

So I ran away, well drove actually, to my happy place. I wrapped myself around a warm mug and drank in the wonders of a coffee shop. The coffee shop playlist floats in my ears as clattering cups and bits of conversations are occasionally interrupted by the sound of an espresso machine. I look deep into my hazelnut latte in hopes the foam would give me a clear sign, and I'm whisked into my day dream.


For a few years now I have joked about my love for coffee, but coffee is never really to be joked about. One day I even decided to create a blog titled the same as my make believe coffee shop. So as I hide away with the foam of my latte cooled in the bottom of my cup I day dream of the shiplapped walls that run perpendicular to the exposed brick. I arrange then rearrange the wall of funny sayings like "just brew it" and cheesy Jesus and coffee quotes. I imagine the eclectic arm chairs and reclaimed pew booths  filled with regulars and new smiles studying for their next test and catching up on life's events. Then I see a familiar face of a young woman searching for a sanctuary, momentarily escaping the pressures of life as she
pecks out a blog post.

I'm shaken back to reality as the waitress asks if I'm done with my drink. With a smile and a nod I think to myself, I'm done for now. Today, the one cup has sufficed in restoring a little clarity back into my life, grounding my soul in the things I know to be true. I will continue my studies and my social engagements as I find joy in both, but I won't quit on my day dream either.