Living the dream
I am in a coffee shop in Chestnut Hill, called, logically enough, the Chestnut Hill Coffee Company. It is essentially a house, with large windows, lots of nice sized tables, some couches and damn good coffee. I came here for the first time with Maggie, and we talked about theater and writing and art and children and all sorts of things and it was while I was here that I suddenly thought, I can do this NaNoWriMo thing.
I had a vision. I would come to this coffee shop daily, laptop in hand, buy coffee and write for two hours (or however long I had) until it was time to collect Helena. It would be adult, caffeinated and productive. I have always loved coffee shops, found them inspiring and productive places, bastions of adulthood and creativity and conversation. I wrote a manifesto for my theatre company which I called Coffee House Theater (and was basically about the necessity for intimacy and how good theater was like strong coffee — it gave you a jolt, left you wired and all your brain cogs spinning wildly).
I have been here only a handful of times since the month began, those hours intruded upon by doctor’s appointments, parent teacher interviews, grocery shopping, absent husbands, laundry and the other hundred minor things that make up a functioning life. But I am here now and it is wonderful. And there is no reason why I have to not come when NaNoWriMo ends. This is a space in my life I didn’t know I had. Like blogging, I didn’t know I needed to do it until I started. I didn’t know there was time until I made it.
And anything that puts me at a table near a window in a coffee shop even once a week is something to be treasured. The wind is howling now and making the panes rattle. It feels warm in here and there are free refills. Later there might be arguments with children. I might lose my temper. I might not make a healthy supper. I might skip bathtime or demand that we read short books before bedtime. There are ways that today might not be the day I would like it to be. But right now, this moment is right. I am noticing it. And there will be more right moments to come.
The Chestnut Hill Coffee Company is on Germantown Avenue at the intersection with Bethlehem Pike, across the street from Borders, in Chestnut Hill. They have not only good coffee, but good things to eat and nice people pouring the caffeine into sturdy mugs. They have outlets and free wifi. And it’s independently owned. This makes it pretty near on the perfect place to write.
I came to your blog via the NaBloPoMo Randomizer and I’ve enjoyed having a browse. As a writer and a mother, I’ve enjoyed reading your posts about both. Good luck with your writing.
I agree with you! Coffee shops are wonderful, creative spaces with good food and drink. I enjoyed your description of the atmosphere, and also about how the rest of the day may not be perfect.
Right moments…it’s all about those.
(Came to your blog after you commented on Motherhood Uncensored.)
Brilliant – why don’t they have places like this in Manhattan (or Budapest!). They do in Minneapolis I think.
sigh.
i so want a coffee shop like that
to be here in my town
but all we have are generic icky places.
but i’m glad that you have one
and that you have not only found
the space within to write
but the time…
How perfect that sounds!! I can’t think of a nicer way to spend a morning – unless you later came down the Hill and visited a yarn shop (hint hint…. enable enable…..)
Two hours, sometimes, is the perfect amount of time for the coffee-shop writing plan. When I used to work at home, and so theoretically had nearly all my time available for such things, I got far less done than when I only have an hour here and there in which to cram a whole week’s worth of writing. Maybe there are people who can use their time better, but I seem to have missed out on that gene.
Good for you on the NaNoWriMo commitment. I tried logging onto the offical site in October. The site rejected me. Not once. Not twice. But three times! I took it as an omen.
I envy you the cool coffee shop. The ony option I have in this town is the cantina at the hockey arena. Not suprisingly, it is frequented by overly exburiant hockey dads and figure skating moms. I don’t exactly blend in.
-ADM
(PS – found you via the madmuthas site)