Life according to coffee cups

gilbertkathj
May 20
3 min read

I jumped at the chance to sell up and slow down when Bill suggested we take that life path in 2021. I felt like the coffee cup on the left of screen was summing up my life – ‘Coffee, teach, repeat’. I’d followed that sequence for well over 25 years – even on school holidays my body clock knew exactly when it was 11.30 am, 1.30 and 3.20 pm.

We've accomplished the first part of Bill’s suggestion – we sold up. I haven’t done so well on the second part – the slowing down part and I don’t regret it for a moment! Since stepping away from teaching no two days ever seem to be the same – and I love that.

This week alone I’ve spoken with Mike Williams for his nationally recognised On The Road - Podcast–https://open.spotify.com/episode/63edSOirfddOuoCJ1Hdcei... , I’ve participated in a zoom event with the Future Women Jobs Academy, completed the first of four modules for my e-commerce google certificate, caught up with the granddaughters, was voted in as group treasurer for local CFA, went to the Heyfield Vintage Machinery Rally in search of an article for my Haulin’ History column in Truckin’ Life and uploaded my manuscript for Empty Roads, Empty Promises to Amazon. (And found out that my problem with the upload can be solved with a relatively simple fix – yay!)

Right now, I’m giving myself a few hours off – let’s call it strategic de-prioritisation – I need to refresh my head before I focus on how to change my manuscript formatting to meet the demands of Draft2Digital. (Why can’t all the print on demand platforms accept the same document format??)

And what do I like to do with a few hours off – I like to write for joy and garden. Writing for joy can mean writing that gets tucked away in my draw, or writing a poem like I shared on Mother's Day or writing to clear my mind by putting my rambling thoughts to paper – a little like I’m doing right now. I’ll admit, I haven’t dedicated as much time to either of those hobbies as I thought I would, back when slowing down was the goal, but that’s OK. My dear Aunt Ursula introduced me to the poem ‘Prayer of the Goat’ from Prayers from the Ark (Prières dans l'arche) by French poet Carmen Bernos de Gasztold in 2024 just before we moved into our new home. I’ve hung a copy of it near my reading bench – built by my son. The poem talks about how the goat wants new flowers to nibble, not the same old same old – it explained to me why I often feel most alive when I’m chasing new experiences and learning new things.

So, now, I’m living life according to coffee cup B. The black cockatoos can represent change. I’m mostly having a wonderful time embracing change in both my garden and my life but that's not to say there aren't challenging moments - and they can come on quickly and when least expected. A few hours ago, the world was all sunshine and fairy floss, while, right in this moment, I'm missing the security of a team; being just one of the decision makers. I know it's about cold feet - the publish button has been pushed, no turning back on the first order of books. When the box of books arrives and the books are just like I've imagined the feeling will dissipate. Those black cockatoos - they can also represent the need for patience - something I am definitely still learning.