Stove Top Coffee Pot – routinely served and savoured
by rebeccaMpells
Each morning I now delight in making coffee in my stove top coffee pot, an unexpected gift which has delivered into my life not just fresh coffee but a fresh routine. In an age where immediate gratification is demanded and not only the coffee is instant, routine has become an unwelcome word, something to be endured which consumes our precious time and keeps us from more engaging activity.
We associate routine with the ordinary, the familiar and commonplace. We often perceive and experience it as boring and tedious and try to complete such tasks as quickly as possible. And in busy lives there is a necessity to undertake them speedily, routine is essential for simple survival. But through the mundane nature of our toils we may discover something of ourselves. Routine is the practice of a skill which had to be courted and apprenticed, the harvest of which is the application of confident ability that enables our lives to operate like a well oiled machine. We undertake our task in the hope that it will take us to a place, some anticipated horizon, where our endeavours may be witnessed, acknowledged and the fruit of our labours enjoyed.
But there is another more intrinsic value to routine. It supports our emotional well being, our need for a reliable framework on which to hang our daily life. In times of stress we turn to an activity like ‘putting the kettle on’, the familiar routine distracts, comforts and soothes. When all around is chaos, routine provides us with a sense of control. Even those lucky enough to be released from the quotidian of formal work will establish new routines, the joy of freedom soon gives way to the need for an habitual guide to stabilize our life. The polarities of the routine and the extraordinary support each other and both are necessary to balance the scales of well-being.
The next time routine fatigue sets in, remember that it serves us well – it certainly serves exceedingly good coffee!
Yes, that is good coffee. And I think we need routines in our lives. It’s just a matter of how we integrate them into our days. I wish you much joy with this routine. It sounds good. And from personal experience, I know it smells good as well.
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Thank you Shimon – yes good coffee, good routine makes for an enjoyable life!
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My husband’s routine is to make the coffee every night before bedtime. Get up in the morning and push the button before any other activity.
Once he forgot the routine. 😦
Of course I got blamed because I forgot my routine of reminding him to make the coffee each night. 😦
Routines are good. 🙂
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Ha yes – one good routine deserves another!
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Thank you for the reminder!
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I constantly need to remind myself of things these days!
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One of the things we strive to do is add a dimension of skill to our lives. Selectively chosen routines help with that 🙂
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Yes I think you’re right. It adds to the enjoyment of everyday life.
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Rebecca, this wonderful post of yours reminds me of a tangentially related post I wrote once: http://samirchopra.com/2014/10/21/coffee-makers-deprivations-indulgence-affordances/
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Thank you Samir and for sharing your link It’s amazing what thoughts a simple little object can inspire. And I shall keep an eye on my coffee pot’s handle!
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This is the way coffee should be prepared and served in my opinion. And I totally agree with you in that the whole routine supports our emotional well being.
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Thank you Otto. It is proving a really enjoyable little routine with the coffee as a delicious bonus!
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Routine and the rituals of roasting and brewing coffee! These are a few of my favorite things! Thank you, so well described!
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Me too KatYa. And many thanks for re-blogging my post 🙂
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Keep writing!
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Reblogged this on K IS SILENT and commented:
On coffee and ritual / routine…
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Reblogged this on RHYMES&REASONS and commented:
To celebrate UK Coffee Week I thought I would re-post this from a couple of years ago. I still savour this routine every morning when I’m at home.
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