Does it feel like the end of summer where you are? I am sitting in a coffee shop with a steaming cup of tea, looking out at the rain splashing on the pavement. It feels like October, not August today, but inside this cosy café I don’t really mind.
I can’t help looking at the café menu differently today. I can’t help noticing how the sofas are arranged, or how whether the staff ‘bless and press’ as they are making the next cappuccino. Why? Because Mr K and I spent two fun days training to be baristas last week, and learnt all sorts of things about the business of coffee and coffee shops.
We wanted to take a couple of days to do something fun together after many weeks juggling work and family while I was trying to finish my book manuscript. We left the girls with their grandmas (all parties were delighted!) and headed to Limini Coffee in Yorkshire. Over the next two days we laughed a lot, learnt a lot, and drank so much coffee we felt slightly drunk. By the end of the workshop Mr K had proved himself to be a dab hand at latte art, and I had just about managed a thistle-topped mocha and a tulip-topped latte.
Besides learning that the coffee industry is booming (apparently the Recession was the best thing that happened to cafes in years, because ‘a coffee and a cake treat’ is considered by most of us to be an ‘affordable luxury’), we learnt that taking time off together works miracles—besides having fun together, we have both been coming up with idea after idea following our short break away. I also got reminded how at home I feel in nature, having stayed at the lovely old Shibden Mill, surrounded by rolling hills.
This week I challenge you to give yourself a short break, whether it be a whole day or just a couple of hours, with someone you love, to just have fun. If you can learn something new when you are at it, even better. Stretch that brain in new ways this week! As summer is edging away, soak it all up this week (even if that means jumping in muddy puddles!)
I’ll be back next week to share some of the great adventures I’ve been having over the past few months in the writing of my book…
Have fun
Beth
PS Thank you to everyone who has already signed up for the Do What You Love e-course, which we are running in October for the last time this year. I can already tell from the energy of those of you who have signed up that this next class is going to be completely transformational. If you missed it, and feel ready to discover your true passion and do what you love, registration is now open here!
