Coffee Shop Musings
Hey y'all,
I'm sitting alone in a coffee shop. Well, I'm alone, but the coffee shop isn't empty. People are chatting by the creamer station as they wait their turn, there is a Bible study going on at a nearby table, and on the far wall, a guy with a neckbeard is telling a bored woman how smart he is. And me? I'm waiting for my person to show up.
When I lived in NC, I spent a ton of time in coffee shops. I didn't have an office at home, and my office at work was always chaotic, so if I wanted to get any work done, I had to go elsewhere. And, of course, they were great places to have off-site meetings.
These days, I'm having lots of off-site meetings. I'm meeting with many pastors, local politicians, and community leaders, and finding a neutral space for these conversations is important. Some people credit the rise in coffee shops at the time with both the Reformation and The American Revolution. It seems when people have a place to meet and talk, good things happen. I know that the parts of my city with the most vibrancy and innovation are the parts where the coffee shops are. It's hard to have collaborative conversations over a Dr. Pepper at Burger King.
It's always instructive to see what coffee shop someone who wants to meet with you suggests for the meeting. Like here in Jackson, there is the sorta faux-hipster place, the sort of boho place, the corporate chain place, and then the professional place. I'm not saying it always breaks down like that, but most places have their vibe, so where someone will suggest meeting you tells you something about them, even if it's just where they feel most comfortable.
Today I'm at the professional place. It's a sort of bakery/ coffee shop/ deli, with music just a shade too loud and wonderful coffee. It's not my favorite place to meet because of the music, but it's right off the Interstate, making it feel convenient to people coming in from the suburbs. It doesn't hurt that it's a 10-minute walk from my house, either.
The guy I'm meeting is late, but I'm not mad about it. It's not likely to be a good meeting. There are people you meet with because you are excited about the possibilities, but this guy is sort of an obligation to a mutual friend. I don't anticipate our being able to work together. Those meetings are still sometimes fruitful, if for nothing other than the relationships that spring up, but this guy has a reputation for being very transactional. And that he suggested this place tells me something about him, too.
But that's OK. I have my laptop, and I can knock this out while I wait. And I have good coffee, and the sun is shining in the window, and I see the sparrows picking up crumbs on the patio outside. I'm thinking about how much I missed coffee shop culture during the COVID years, and as I'm watching spontaneous conversations happen around me, for not the first time, I feel enveloped in gratitude.
I hope you are having a good day wherever you are reading this.
Writing
As I'm trying to find a new rhythm, it's starting to look like three pieces of writing a week - The newsletter on Monday, a blog piece during the week, and then this on Friday. Both newsletters have what I think of as "mini blog posts' as introductory essays (that piece about the coffee shop is an example). They are all distributed parts of what I jokingly call The Hughniverse.
This week on the blog, I write about my weird relationship with clothes and how they are part of how we move in the world. This time last year, I was in the midst of my 30-day gratitude project, and this story about the man who changed my life is my favorite thing I wrote that week.
Other things
As Twitter goes into a meltdown, I'm looking into other platforms. Here are a few I am investigating.
There is CounterSocial, which has the disadvantage of being very understaffed but has the plus of being a very nice environment, and it feels a lot like 2007 Twitter. I'm @hughlh over there - you can follow me here.
And all the cool kids are on Mastodon, which seems clunky and sort of DIY, but I'm still figuring it out. You have to choose a server, and while you can change it later, you have to choose now, which leads to paralysis for me. You can follow me here.
If you have a remote work job and are concerned about the current situation here in the US, you may be interested in this site that rates various countries open to so-called digital nomads.
And I loved this essay in The New Yorker about the person we used to be and how we interact with them as we build the story of who we are now. (Confused yet? Just go and read the thing. It's good. )
Thank you!
Like all my projects, this newsletter is a reader-supported publication paid for by my members. I can only do it because people like you buy me a cup of coffee or forward this letter to someone else. And if someone did forward this to you, you can get your own subscription here.
Take care,
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