Do you all ever get moments where you feel like, God, the universe, or your higher power, is trying to send you a message? Maybe it's something simple like seeing a certain number. I once went through a spell where I looked at the clock daily at 7:47. Maybe it's a gesture like a smile from a stranger passing or a kind word or a random meme from someone in the internet but it's just the thing you really need to carry you for the moment. Maybe it's something much more profound, such as an illness an accident or a tragedy that at once shift the trajectory of how you live your life in an initially unseen but ultimately positive way.
Well for me lately it has been Foundations. All sorts of foundations and the different representations of foundations keep popping up in my life. As someone embarking on a bee keeping hobby, I have come to learn that the thing the bees store their honey on are called foundations. And upon these foundations they draw out their iconic hexagon shaped cells of comb. Have you ever stopped to wonder why a hexagon and not a square. By what I can only call divine design, the hexagon is mathematical perfection as Charles Darwin himself once wrote, the honeycomb is a masterpiece of engineering. It is "absolutely perfect in economizing labor and wax."
How about parenting and the foundations we hope to instill in our children? Any one else have questions about the school system these days?
What about the moral compass with which one uses to steer the ship of their lives?
We all know that the foundation is the most important part of a structure. With a strong foundation a structure can withstand many storms and disruptions. Without a foundation, it will simply wash away. We can think of a tree on a river bank or the deep roots of a maple verses that of a conifer that is often found blown over. There is a school of thought in Shorin Ryu Karate that establishes 4 main tenants of karate (life) mastery. Strength and Agility is listed as least important. Vision and Foundation are listed as most important. Think about this. In a Karate fight (meant for life and death) you will have the best success if you have a strong footing and a firm stance with which to tak the kicks and punches. This is my husbands thing but it makes total sense as a life lesson to me.
Your body is your house, a temple actually and many things can impact the strength of your foundation. The relationship you have with your Self sets the foundation for your life. Take time to care for your self. You can't pour from an empty cup. I like to think of the morning and how we treat ourselves in the morning as setting the foundation for our day.
Some people call this setting intentions, morning meditations, daily devotions or a morning routine. I recently saw a suggestion that there is a perfect morning routine that involves waking and getting into the shower within the first 12 minutes of opening your eyes. For me this would be far from perfect. I need time for coffee. There are many methods that are supposed to help set your self up for a great day. Hal Elrod's "Miracle Morning" is another. Most morning routines involve coffee.
The National Coffee Association reports that in 2019 64% of Americans were daily coffee drinkers. You probably wouldn't be reading this if you weren't one of them. We take this daily involvement in your lives seriously. We are honored when you choose our coffee to be a part of setting your day up to be a success. And success can be defined however you see fit. You can put whatever you want on your list :) We like to put, wake up and have a cup of coffee (and another cup of coffee if we are being honest) and see how easy it is to check three items off the top of your list? Off to great start superstar! :D In all seriousness though we do take our coffee and knowing it is an intimate part of many peoples morning to heart. There is a lot of nasty coffee out there. We always choose the highest of quality coffee in it's raw form. Selected for its lack of imperfections. Specialty grade coffee is graded on a rigorous scale that will not allow more than 6 imperfections per 350 g or about 2600 beans.
Imperfections are where mold gets in and mold can be very detrimental to health. This grading scale, done by qualified QC coffee graders results in a cup of coffee that is free from imperfections. Not only is specialty grade coffee more healthful but it also tastes better. To lift the veil for you a little bit, as a roaster this looks like a hopper full of raw coffee beans that look all smooth and green vs a hopper full of coffee that is cracked, in pieces, full of sticks and pieces of cement and other debris (rumors even say pieces of animals from machine harvesting. ((Remember specialty grade coffee is hand picked and sorted)) and most disturbing it is BLACK. You can compare this to a lentil or a cherry pit or a potato. You know instinctually that if it is black as a food it isn't good.) The same is true for fresh food. Fresh food contains more nutrients. Now we aren't going to say that coffee is very nutritious but will argue that clean organic specialty grade coffee has many health benefits and most western diets obtain the majority of their antioxidants from their coffee intake. There is a lot of emerging research to support that coffee drinkers actually live longer and happier lives but that is a topic for another time.
All of this is to say we take a personal sense of responsibility in what we are offering for you to put into your body, your temple on a daily basis. We take great honor in being a part of your morning and the foundation of your day. We take great pride in knowing our coffee is of exceptional quality and taste. Let's just face it. Life is too short to drink bad coffee.
Start you day right. "Right" will be different for every one but take time for your self. The song Peaceful Easy Feeling by the Eagles,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjofshOBV5s talks about how he has this sense of serenity because he is already standing on the ground. He is at peace due to his solid footing or foundation. Suicide, adrenal burnout, mental breakdown and drug overdose are all on the rise. Self care is not indulgence. You can't pour from an empty cup. Look after your self so you can be part of a strong foundation that helps lift others.
Go ahead and cross coffee off your list and when you drink Coffee Culture Revival you can be sure you are drinking from among the highest quality coffee available in the world and care is taken at every step from crop to cup to maintain the quality and freshness for every cup. We do care. Just like the Eagles we won't let you down and when we send a package of coffee out to you we are sending you literal good grounds. We love coffee and we trust you will enjoy.
If you or someone you know feels overwhelmed and is looking for some helpful resources please reach out. For our local community we recommend reaching to The Camden Life Center and
https://www.cometothetablecounseling.com/ and for those friends who are outside of our local community we recommend you
Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Feel free to text us if you need a friend at 315-225-4202.
Cheers, Your Roaster and Coffee Friend :)
