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Community and Coffee

I love being in community. I find that I am more alive, more creative, and truly in my element when I am around people.

Feeling an imbalance

I’ve been wrestling with this for a few months. I recently quit my full-time job and find myself with a lot of unstructured time.

Oh boy, this is a challenge for me. The first couple of weeks of freedom were great. I could do whatever I wanted with my day. And so began the bingeing of streaming movies and TV shows. It is winter in Chicago and TV watching is an official sport for us during the months of December to April. All jokes aside, I felt an imbalance in my life.

Isolation

Before quitting, I worked the night shift and had very little interaction with people during the hours of 11 pm and 8 am. All in all, my daily interactions with people were limited to weekends and the occasional errands. In my case, the isolation from people was forced by my work situation. After, I quit I realized that I imposed my own isolation as well.

It's easy to isolate yourself

I am currently in the process of adjusting to freelance life and really healing from this lack of community.

Isolation is so easy to slip into because it takes very little effort to not get out of bed or to spend the day watching The Amazing Race (my guilty pleasure). Sometimes our health condition dictates our moods or it can be impossible to get going because of pain.

In considering all the reasons to isolate myself, they still don’t outweigh the feeling of comfort I feel when I am sitting in a coffee shop.

Connection through community

The coffee shop is a community of neighbors, folks that come to a place to gather. Right now, I am at Robust Coffee Lounge on 63rd and Woodlawn in Chicago.

On my left, there is a group of men arguing over chess games. On my right, a young lady is busy studying for an exam. Another group is meeting in the corner. Somehow, I feel connected to the entire room.

I love the feeling of being in the room with other people, without having to be at the center of attention. In a way, I am an introvert and an extrovert at the same time, I guess. In this environment, I feel connected with the world in all the ways that I like. The ambient noises and conversations give me a sense of how people are feeling and thinking. I love to hear the old men talk and talk and talk.

Feeling a part of something bigger

I feel a part of a bigger community when I am here. Not only that, but I take pride in the steps I took to get here.

From getting out of bed, showering, getting ready, driving in the snow, all of the little steps to get to my "office" - I honor and respect not as given things, but blessings that I have the strength and resolve to accomplish.

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