100 Days of Wonder – #53
I have been drinking too much coffee. And I haven’t been drinking it in that lovely ‘mindful first cup of the day slowly inviting in the day’ way. It’s been more like ‘do task, drink coffee, do task, drink coffee, do task, drink coffee and repeat…’ Not great because it means I drink way more coffee than I normally would and I don’t even pause to enjoy it. So it seems fitting to pause and think about coffee moments. I have had so many lovely conversations, giggles, good cries, bitching sessions and putting the world to rights chats over coffee. So many reflective moments cradling a mug of hot black liquid, so many ideas – good, bad and ridiculous. I have lots of coffee moments and my favourite ones are the first coffee of the day moments, whether I have it sitting in bed slowly coming round, sitting outside watching the world wake up around me or whether I am sipping it from a reusable mug on the go. My first coffee of the day at Disney is extra special because I’m at Disney but it serves two purposes – it allows me to come round and wake up gently before jumping into the day and it provides a moment of pause to enjoy the promise a new day of adventures holds. We usually get a resort mug which means we can refill at the drinks station in the hotel throughout our stay but there are also coffee machines in the rooms. Depending on our mood, we can take a few steps from the bed and press a button or we can stroll from wherever our room is to the drinks station. Here’s a picture of the 50th anniversary blend dispensers at Disney World in January 2023. We were in the Garden Wing of the Contemporary Resort in 2023 and there was something lovely about the walk across to the main tower to fill our mugs. Somehow that first coffee is as much about the making or going and getting it and holding the mug and thinking about the day to come as it is about actually drinking the coffee. So I can’t promise I will drink less coffee but looking for this picture and thinking about coffee moments made me realise that I do want to at least drink it more mindfully and enjoy my coffee moments again.
100 Days of Wonder – #26
After the 2019 Dopey Challenge (if you googled that or clicked the link, yes you read that right, it is mad and 48.6 miles over 4 days is ridiculous), we took Dopey out to the parks to celebrate. You could say he went on a bit of a bender and there weren’t many sweet treats he didn’t try. For he, read we. It was an epic celebration of fun and silliness fuelled by good coffee, lots of food and some fancy drinks with lights and straws.
Completing a big impossible challenge like running races on 4 consecutive days with a marathon on Day 4 obviously warrants a big celebration but as I was looking through the pictures trying to pick just one (and failing, obviously), I was thinking about how celebrating the small stuff is even more important. Perhaps not always with a sweet treat or a light up drink but marking things completed, celebrating a job well done or giving yourself a pat on the back for holding your shit together are all worth consciously doing. So today I am celebrating 2 things: Senior colleagues having your back and students with brilliant ideas. And how? With a cup of tea and a small square of Ritter Sport chocolate, perfectly meshing together my German childhood chocolate with my oh so very English drink. It made for a lovely reflective moment and a smile in an otherwise busy day. Perfect. What are you celebrating today? And how?
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