Mine happens to be a coffee shop in downtown Columbia, Kaldi's. I swear I spend AT LEAST 15 hours a week at this place! I discovered it by doing what any college student would do when they move into a new town, I Googled "good coffee shops in Columbia, MO". Kaldi's was the first one to pop up (well, after I sifted through all fifteen Starbucks located within a ten mile radius...). Conveniently located right off campus, Kaldi's sits at just a 5 minute bike ride away. When classes are done for the day, I pack up my homework, computer, and a book into my backpack and set my course for the quaint establishment.
The things I like about Kaldi's: it's always filled with the "right" amount of people- empty enough so a seat is always available yet crowded enough to provide that necessary "buzz" of casual conversation, the diversity expressed in its customers never ceases to amaze me (one day I was studying with two French ladies conversing in front of me, a chess club deeply lost in the confines of their games to my left, and a women's Bible study meeting to my right), it's not widely known (I love things that are unique/individual), the coffee is GREAT, and here's a little peek at what the place looks like!Among these qualities my brain just lets loose and creates. I focus more easily on the task at hand, but more significant than that is how the setting causes me to want to dig deeper into whatever I'm doing. Whether it's doing homework, reading a leisure book, blogging, or sending someone a text, I feel that I approach them all with a sense of deeper meaning when I'm at Kaldi's. The setting also provides me a clarity of mind that often gets lost in the stresses of everyday life.
So I encourage you to find your place; find your creative niche. It may be a variety of things, but whatever it is IT'S YOUR'S! Make time to indulge in that niche at least once a week and let that creativity find its way out of your heart and into something physical. God gave you that part of yourself; He created you uniquely and in His image so let yourself out! I can assure you it will be rewarding for you and for those who are happen to be blessed by your creative production.
One more thing: I would LOVE to hear what your creative niche is! If you wouldn't mind, leave a comment describing your place, scenario, or setting where you go to let your imagination flow and/or gain a certain clarity of mind.
Just found this. And as a person who hates when people don't comment, I am compelled to.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all. I share your love of coffee. That said, I don't always feel the most productive in a coffee shop. I'm often to distracted by whats going on and trying to be open to chance encounters that I rarely get done what I had intended. Also, I seem to feel the need to move after an hourish, so sitting for hours on end is out of the question.
That said, I have come to love the late night hours. When I moved back home after college I wasn't sure how I was going to make the change from staying up till all hours with the guys to being the only person up after nine. What I found was that for the first time my bedroom became more than a place to sleep. I don't think I've done anything but sleep and change in here since I was a kid, but now with a few twinkle lights and a TV it has become the perfect late night hideaway.
Add a hot beverage and the niche is ready for the creative mind to run wild.