Prudence and Madness

In life’s many universes, the Coffee Universe is my retreat, where there are all the shadows and lights of the real world and I let it tumble around in my mind. It is my great escape, where I can view what’s happening in my life and choose if I want to zoom in on a detail I want to study or zoom out to get a greater perspective on things. When I retreat to this place, I get ideas for blog posts, mull over the things I’ve done in the recent or distant past, or plan for what I’d be doing in the future. It’s my “me” time, my quality time with myself and my thoughts.It doesn’t have to be in a coffee shop.It could be any place where nobody would be constantly disturbing me with the superficialities of life. You know, it can really be tiring and irritating when everybody just keeps on looking for you asking or making you do things. Even the voice of people where you live can become cumbersome to listen to. So, as long as I have my coffee and a relatively quiet time, I’d get in my personal bubble and I’ll be fine. I’d, then, plug my earphones and listen to the songs stored in my cellphone (I’m poor, I don’t have an iPod or a separate mp3 player).

I feel at peace with myself whenever I hear Jamie Cullum’s “These Are The Days”. It’s not a happy song. It’s a song good for introspection.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

These are the days that I’ve been missing
Give me the taste, give me the joy of summer wine
These are the days that bring new meaning
I feel the stillness of the sun and I feel fine

Sometimes when the nights are closing early
I remember you and I start to smile
Even though now you don’t want to know me
I get on by, and I go the extra mile

These are the times of love and meaning
Ice of the heart has melted away and found the light
These are the days of endless dreaming
Troubles of life are floating away like a bird in flight

These are the days
These are the days
These are the days

I’ve thought you said that love would last forever
Leave and that the tears would end for good
I told you that we get through any weather
Maby that didn’t work out
But we did the best we could

These are the days that I’ve been missing
Give me the taste give me the joy of summer wine
These are the days that bring new meaning
I feel the stillness of the sun and I feel fine

I do miss the days when I can go retreating to my Coffee Universe often. With work and studying, somehow I’m beginning to feel that I’m doing things mechanically, just to be able to get through with the day’s work. I miss the days when I could just immerse myself in my Coffee Universe thinking of the intricacies of life. No, I’m not concerned about the reasons or the purposes of living. Rather, it’s more amusing to think of the causes and effects of everything that we do and how it affected our life and those of others.

I’m beginning to think that most of the things we do today only hinders us from practicing the Art of Living.