I have always loved the coffee shop and the coffee shop ambiance. When I first started going to the cafe I was in college for the first time. I made a friend who was also a writer, together we would meet and write and bounce ideas off each other over a cup of coffee. I was a person who wanted to know the story of others and to hear their take on life. I was inspired by Jack Kerouac and wanted to create my own happening and capture my own story. For me, the coffee shop was the perfect way of doing just that.
I can’t tell you the number of people I would and still invite to coffee for a cup and some good conversation. In many of the conversations, I wished that the cup was bigger and that I would have had more time to spend with my friends. I remember one time having a cup of coffee with a friend that stands out as sort of a catalyst of being for me. We hadn’t seen one another in some time but were and have always been good to catch up here and there over a cup of coffee. This time as the cups ran empty and it was time for her to the part I remember watching her leave thinking I should go out and stop her, but what I would say to her I was at a loss for words. I knew that we were two different people and that a friendship was perfect for our relationship.
There have been other cups of coffee and other conversations that have been just as profound and as meaningful to me. I journeyed to the Starbucks Reserve in Tokyo and spent a great deal of time reflecting and thinking. One of the ideas that I came up with while sitting there was, Tokyo is a place of always being somewhere. There was an energy and a sense of hustle and bustle that even when you were in the moment you were still on the go. The Edo period Cafe in Kyoto, Japan was amazing and something truly unique all unto its own. I was able to enjoy a moment with a new friend there and share in something I loved and enjoyed.
When I visited Istanbul Turkey I had a cup of coffee that was unlike any other. As I sat there on the street smoking a hooka and having a traditional cup of coffee, the kind that is made in the sand I was able to let go of everything and truly be in the moment. The idea I had then was Istanbul and having coffee was the art of being nowhere but in that moment. You would simply sit there for hours sipping cups of coffee while smoking hookah. It was easy to get lost in the moment and allow yourself to escape the white noise of the world and life back home.
There is no secret that when I have time I make my rounds to several coffee shops meeting up with some frequent goers. I also know that at some point if I am there long enough someone I know will come through the doors and provide a moment to catch and share, but if anything I work and ponder ideas of art and philosophy.
With everything going on and people’s lives as busy as they are it’s hard to find the time to genuinely disengage from our lives to be a part of someone else’s life before there is a knock suggesting you get back to it. I was honored that a friend came out and stopped off at the coffee shops something that was out of the norm for them so meant the world that they visited me in my world. We talked for over an hour of uninterrupted conversation. We talked about everything from life, plans for the future, and our frustration of how there is never enough time in the day to do and be the things we want to be. Beyond the conversation, we shared our application that as artists we could see and share the projects we were and have been working on. We both grew excited about how we could help one another and support one another in our fields grow. The conversation was one of those deep introspective questions that make you think and ponder deep life questions and come to terms that nothing was going to be simple as we were both complex and interactive individuals. These are the conversations I seek to have and to know. These are the conversation that makes me feel full and whole. This conversation was the first of two that would change my life in less than 24 hours that would forever change how I saw coffee shops and how I would take my coffee.
The next day I frequented my regular spots and enjoyed my traditional cups of coffee. The conversations were simple and superficial, which was fine I was still full from the day before. As I got ready to go I ran into a friend, someone I loved and enjoyed talking with although at times the flames from his fiery passion are intense and hard for others to handle. Still, I think his opinions can be found to be a breath of fresh air in a time when everything is so politically correct. The old saying goes that you should never talk about religion, politics, and a few other topics because they often get off track quickly. There is an ongoing joke that is based on the nature of some conversations a two-minute timer should be set before it has to leave the bar and go to a table. This time by chance I had a conversation with my friend in the alley and as we stood there I couldn’t help but take in the environment.
The alley was dirty, I mean, after all, it was the alley. The garbage cans stunk, there was a can with cigarette butts in it and flies everywhere. You could look down the way and look out into the main happening to one of the main streets. The more we talked the more I enjoyed the conversation until I had to stop the conversation to say so. I explained that when you're having coffee and sit on the veranda you are on the mainstream of happening in life. when you are in the cafe you have to be considerate of others and acknowledge and keep things proper while tip towing or skirting various issues or topics, but we were in the alley, literally the fringe of society. There in the alley, there was no worry we could just simply have our conversation. Who were we going to offend? I was already offended by the smell of the garbage and the absurd amount of flies.
Finally, as our conversation came to a close and we went about our day I couldn’t help but think of the book “A brave new world.” The whole experience gave new enlightenment and thought to the idea of “identity in space.” Crazy to think that you don’t just have different conversations with different people but you can have different conversations within different spaces.
On a closing idea, there is a paint that exists that is so black and so absorbent of light that it tricks the eye. There is a video of a person that creates a room that is completely closable and then paints the entire space with said paint. The end result is a room that is very disorientating and absorbs light like a black hole. I wonder what the impact of such a space would have on a conversation. A space that is nothing, but at the same time a space that can seemingly be everything.