Okay, so your planner is filled with scribbles and colors of events, dates, times, and reminders. A cup of coffee beyond the Keurig may seem like the last thing you have time for, but I promise it’ll be worth every sip. Something so simple as having a conversation over coffee with someone, not only decompresses you from the hustle and bustle of the week, but it can open your eyes to new perceptions of conversation. Twenty minutes of conversation can open so many new doors to ideas to explore and can even bring a higher self-awareness.

Maybe you haven’t seen an old friend in awhile or maybe you just met someone knew this week, invite them out, small talk can lead to big discoveries. Explore new places in your local area; you never know what kinds of creativity and expression are just around the corner. Some of the best places can be found in a hole in the wall downtown. Notice the people that come into the place, feel the atmosphere, don’t be scared to become apart of it, everyone is there for the same common love of caffeine. Ask the barista how their day is going. I promise that simple gesture will make an impact on their day after the last order they had was a small skin, light foam, decaffeinated, then re-caffeinated, steamed to 156 degrees and add a smidge of cinnamon that you picked yourself this morning. Notice the girl in the corner with her stack of books, and the older gentleman on his laptop, feel the sense of refuge they found in such a simple place.

After you get your coffee find your corner to nest in. Settle down, make yourself at home and let the magic happen. Something different takes place when you have small talk over coffee, it’s like this magic liquid causes you to open up on a different level where anything and everything can be said and accepted. Small is different in a coffee shop, you can go from talking about the weather to analyzing why you feel different on sunny days to rainy days. In a world that uses media to be our communication, the coffee shop is like the sacred foreground where real personal conversation can take place. Don’t be afraid to ask those questions that dig deep, ask your companion for the day their favorite childhood memory, what was their first love, their first heartbreak? If they could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Is people watching interesting to them? What do they notice about others? There are so many things you can explore with someone and all it takes is twenty minutes!

It’s so easy to fall into our own schedules and get lost in our own world. Taking an afternoon to have a conversation over coffee is a simple way to put everything in perspective again. When you take the time to learn and explore others, you walk away with the feeling of learning about yourself too. Even if the conversations leads to different views and beliefs, how amazing is it that you just unlocked that door with someone and got to see the world from a different perspective?

We are all human, we all love, learn, fear, and grow, but how we do those things is what is unique to us. We all have things we can take and learn from each other, so get that cup of coffee this week and don’t be afraid to dive into new depths of conversation.