9:43 AM – EST
New York, New York
Sometimes I feel like my life is a series of coffee shops. No matter what country they always seem to represent a haven for me. Maybe it’s because I think that’s where “artists” are supposed to hang out. It’s been so long since I started the trend I can hardly remember when this became normal. I am enormously curious about the number of green tea’s I’ve consumed in the last 7 years. I think the amount of caffeine would be enough to fuel a voyage to the moon and at least half way back.
To prove my point, here’s a little note I made to myself nearly two years ago at a café in Beijing, China:
August 28, 2014
11:51 AM
Sitting in a coffee shop in Beijing watching a light rain. I’m convinced I’m the luckiest person in the world. Before, I was in Italy, Maui, Nepal, and Korea. Amazing what I get to do and see. I’m living a life few get to. I’m incredibly grateful.
Certainly more prophetic words have been spoken, but I was relieved to find that I knew how fortunate I’d been. Perhaps slightly more descriptive than the China anecdote was the one I recorded on a frigid day in Sweden:
December 28, 2015
9:20 AM
Sitting in a 7-Eleven in Stockholm. They’re popular here by the way. It’s a cold December 28th morning. The sun goes down early and comes up late. But as I wander this beautiful tundra I am once again reminded of the many great fortunes of my life. I get to be here. That is quite special.
When I asked my friend Mario, 36, from Los Angeles what the best piece of advice he ever received was here’s what he said: “Look at this word “content”…some people view it as “Khantent” so they are always trying to fill their lives with objects and things that never truly fulfill them. However, if you view the word as “Cun-tent” you will be happy with what you have and find inner peace and joy in the things that already exist within your life. Don’t live your life as a collector of things, instead enjoy and maximize the memories and experiences that you have for at some point they will cease to exist as will you.”
