I’ve written about the morning quiet a few times, and usually that quiet is accompanied by coffee. And so here I am, writing about that morning quiet while enjoying said quiet…and coffee.

There’s a particular kind of peace that comes from alone time and coffee just for coffee’s sake. Not a meeting. Not a reward. Not fuel for the next task on an overly ambitious to-do list clearly written by a more optimistic version of me. 

Just coffee. 

Just quiet.

This is not “grab a coffee on the way.” This is sit down coffee. Mug chosen carefully. Phone placed face down, as if it might misbehave if given eye contact. No one asking questions. No one expecting answers. The coffee isn’t trying to help me become a better person (as if it really could)—it’s just being coffee, and frankly, that’s refreshing.

I sip slowly, like someone who has nowhere to be because, for once, I actually don’t. The world outside continues its dramatic performance—cars honking, people rushing, someone somewhere definitely late—but none of that has anything to do with me right now.

For these few minutes, my only responsibility is not spilling coffee on myself. A low bar for sure, but one I respect.

My thoughts wander the way they do when they’re not being supervised (those over-caffeinated monkeys in my mind are always under close watch). I think about nothing important. Then everything important. Then whether I’ve already reheated this cup once or twice. Time stretches out, comfortable and unproductive, which feels mildly rebellious. 

Somewhere, an efficiency expert would be disappointed. Or maybe proud. Hard to say.

This isn’t self-care in the Instagram sense. There’s no candle. No playlist titled ‘Soft Morning Energy.’ Just a quiet moment where I don’t have to explain myself to anyone, including myself. I don’t need to justify the pause. I don’t need to turn it into a lesson. The coffee doesn’t care about my goals, and that makes two of us.

Eventually, the cup empties. It always does. The spell breaks gently, not rudely. I’ll rejoin the day soon enough—emails, conversations, decisions—but I do it slightly calmer, slightly less tangled. Like I remembered something important and simple: that I’m allowed to stop without earning it.

Alone time and coffee. 

Not a habit. 

Not a hustle. 

Just a moment. 

And sometimes, that’s exactly enough.

There’s more waiting at https://xinkblotz.com Telling stories, sharing thoughts, and drinking coffee. A blend of fiction, reflection, and whatever’s brewing – one post at a time.