...because of poetry

a cup of coffee can mean a lot of different things.   it could be an excuse for staying up late or a reason for waking up early. and a good cup of coffee can take you places-to the past or future, to the real or imagined. a pumpkin spice latte could mean fall in michigan; an americano could take you back to a rainy day in new york. drink strong, black coffee with one cream and one sugar and you might be back in costa rica on a crisp morning, writing in your journal near the base of a volcano. as i have grown older, i have learned that my choice of coffee is usually determined by the kind of day i had or the type of mood i am in. a black cup of coffee for cozy mornings and nostalgic days, flavored lattes on homework and no-motivation days. this cup was hello and a goodbye, a beginning and an ending. today, we met up on my last day in new york city and the first day in hers. today was a black coffee kind of day. this cup was a call to travel, a call to learn, and a call to do more. this cup was a conversation on how to make most of who you are as a person living in a world that we have seen and understand so little about.today was meaningful because i reunited with an old friend and made a new friend...both friends were the same person. three years after meeting briefly while living on a ship in the mediterranean sea, we met up again on a rainy, transitional day in new york city.  maybe it should have been weird or slightly awkward meeting up with someone i knew briefly and hadn't seen or spoken to in three years, but it wasn't.  it was comfortable, thought-provoking, and inspiring. one cup of coffee brought us together to reflect on our shared experiences and to perhaps unintentionally remind one another our love for traveling. today was meaningful because we sat and talked.  not about people but about ideas, about ways to learn and ways to grow.  about poverty and what that means, about change and personal agency and how that plays out.  we talked about surviving in new york city and what it was like while visiting egypt and morocco. today was meaningful because we put down our phones, got off of all social media sites, and connected in real life.i've been thinking about the kinds of people you meet in your life- the kinds of people that help write or end up changing your story.  i think everyone needs a character like her in their personal life story, a person you can meet up with three years down the road in a coffee shop. a person who can walk into your life and stay there forever. a person who can make you reevaluate the direction you are heading and encourage you to offer the world all that you can.i think we all should aspire to be that kind of person for someone else. and for ourselves.    today was a reflection kind of day. an analysis of who i am, where i have been, and where i hope to go.