Deep in my cup, I have those enlightened thoughts that philosophers in Chinese dramas have when they are drunk, but my drug of choice is caffeine, which I have learned in recent years is dangerous to me at the levels I would care to have it at.
So, soaring with the influence of my one-cup-of-chai limit per day, I realize what I gained from my “scary” several years sojourn outside of 40 hours/week consumer capitalism, especially the years I spent teaching, which felt particularly pointless after I quit.
I gained compassion. I gained the ability to put faces to names and circumstances. Even the abuse taught me things. Maybe especially the abuse, because people’s behavior is a performance of what they have known in their lives.
At Balqee’s Coffee, I don’t know what the next step in my life will be. But I still have some dim lights in the distance to follow. I still have to learn.
Sunlight-Colored Roses 