When the ‘new normal’ becomes the ‘same-old, same-old’.

Here’s a slightly weird and random fact about me.  I didn’t drink coffee until I was in my forties. In fact, it took a global pandemic to persuade me.

It was the first of the lockdowns, when lines between work and home were fuzzy dots, and the “new normal” was being rewritten.  The air breathed through flimsy masks smelled like a weird mix of existential crisis and existential hope. Apparently, that was all I needed to see what all these caffeine-packed creamy coffee shenanigans were about.

Spoiler alert though…  I didn’t start with a flat white.  I went all in with the espresso martini.

At the time, it felt like an entirely appropriate way to mark the end of the working day.  Turn those fuzzy dots into a line. Connect those dots, god damn it..! And so it was: the line was no longer a dot to me. (IYKYK)

Anyway, these days, for the sake of my sleep (and probably my blood pressure), it’s just a simple morning caffe latte with oat milk. No alcohol before 19:00 and no caffeine before 10:00.

And somewhere between that first espresso martini and today’s much more sensible latte, I realised how much I enjoy the power of the pause (one of my favourite mantras).  The pause that comes with a coffee, tea, martini, tipple of choice, whatever… The silence. The peace.

Perhaps I love that peace so much because I was a young mum, Happy 21^st Mummy..!  Not in the plan at the time, and most certainly the cause of new noise – and the creator of many tepid cups of tea.   

Perhaps, then, it’s the hot coffee and the peace I love so much now, thinking as a mature(r) human.

Anyway, if your ‘new normal’ is anything like my ‘same old, same old’ and you’d like to be part of the conversation, please join me here.  If our paths cross in real life – maybe the coffee is on me (before 10:00, obvs).