Cafe--- What's it all about?

You may have wondered about the 'cafe' part of my business name. There is no brick and mortar 'cafe' associated (at this time) with the Paintbrush Cafe.

Cafe is a sacred time to gather perhaps over a cuppa coffee, tea or hot water. It is a time set aside for introspection, writing or conversing about themes in life.

My husband and I recently began having dedicated cafe time each morning before the cares of the day intrude. I have learned this from my teacher Shiloh Sophia McCloud and her husband Jonathan.

We consciously sit down with espresso and juice for perhaps only 15 minutes. During these 15 minutes, no cell phones or computers are allowed. We set our intention on what is important, what has meaning in this moment and discuss that concept. One morning he spoke about letting go- the words were so wise, I took notes in my journal. Now that we have this practice, it has turned into the most memorable part of the day. Even if we have to get up 15 minutes earlier, we make this effort. We don't discuss schedules it is more about concepts.

There are several tools we use. One is gazing. We set a phone timer for two minutes and neither person speaks- we just gaze at each other. When the buzzer goes off, we each discuss what came up. It might be laughter, or you might notice your body language; you may remember when it was your favorite thing to simply look at your partner.

Another method is to have a book close by that you admire, for instance Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, or a book of poetry. Each of you open the book at random and read the first passage your eyes light upon. The kinds of things that come up are amazing and who better to talk about themes of life than your beloved?