Letting My Hair Down

And drinking coffee for a change

For some inexplicable reason I decided that I wanted to drink coffee today. Recently, I have been on a kick of mixing things up; of doing and trying new things, of doing things differently, of taking different routes, of changing routines and habits. It’s good to mix things up from time to time. We humans can get in such solidified ruts. Mixing things up keeps life fresh and exciting.

So I got down on my hands and knees on my kitchen floor and dug my coffee maker out of the bottom kitchen cabinet. It’s just a cheap coffee maker that I bought at Wal-Mart six or seven or eight years ago. Despite being hidden in the back of the cabinet it was covered with a significant layer of dust. So I washed and scrubbed that coffee maker until it looked brand new.

Then I went into the refrigerator where I knew that I had a package of ground coffee. After finding it way in the back of the fridge I looked at the ‘Best by’ date on the package. It read, September, 2013!

Apparently, I have not made and consumed coffee since at least then. So as not to incur the wrath of baristas everywhere I decided not to use that old, old coffee. After writing, ‘coffee,’ on my current shopping list I then put on a heavy winter coat and walked to the coffee shop that is three and a half blocks from where I live. I ordered a large coffee to go. I felt absolutely horrible for utilizing a single-use plastic to-go container but, gosh darn it, I really, really wanted a cup of coffee!

So that cup of coffee now sits on my desk half-empty (or perhaps half-full — I’m not sure). Surely it is ice cold by now. I suppose I could always warm up the coffee on the stove (I don’t do microwave ovens) but seriously that half-cup that I drank was more than enough to satisfy my inexplicable craving. It was like popping a handful of amphetamines or something. It made me all wirey and jittery and discombobulated. (It sure tasted good, though.) I wondered how I ever drank coffee on a daily basis so many, many years ago.

So anyway, the upshot of the matter is that there is currently a sparkling clean coffee maker sitting on my kitchen counter like some shiny new jumbo jet parked in the middle of a school cafeteria. My first impulse was to quickly put it back into the rear of the kitchen cabinet to stay until I get my next urge for some coffee five or six or seven years from now.

But I decided not to do that. I live in a small apartment with a tiny kitchen and precious little kitchen counter space. I really don’t have room for it. But then I reminded myself how I was trying to mix things up; to change my routine patterns. With that giant coffee maker taking up so much of the scant counter space I have available surely all of my normal kitchen and cooking routines would be drastically altered. Maybe even my regular diet would change because of the radical modification to my kitchen. So I left the coffee maker on my kitchen counter…

… at least for now.

“Every language sounds foreign to those who do not speak it.” — Lucas Winslow

Drinking coffee is not the only rock I’ve thrown into the calm waters of my habitual life. I also recently bought an umbrella and now own an umbrella for the very first time in my life. I haven’t used it yet but there it hangs from my coat rack.

I also recently bought a backpack and now own a backpack for the very first time in my life (backpacks had not yet been invented back when I went to school). I have gotten a great deal of use out of that backpack and I am so glad I made that little step to shake up my life.

Perhaps the biggest shake up in my life involves my hair. For three weeks now I have not once tied my hair back in a ponytail. Not once. I let my hair down (both literally and metaphorically) and it is staying down.

I swear that my brain is now functioning at a calmer, more efficient level. Plus, since I’ve let my hair down I’m getting more psychic flashes each day than I normally get. Since I let my hair down I feel happier and more joyful. What a positive change it has been!

I have also made it a point to commit at least one or two random acts of kindness every time I leave the apartment. I am now also making it a point to make at least one or two people laugh every day. Through kindness and laughter I could very well change the world, right?

At least it seems to be changing my world.

So anyhoo, I will stop blabbering now. It’s time to go to the kitchen and start preparing dinner. I’m a bit apprehensive about that, though, what with that big THING on my kitchen counter.

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