I love coffee. I don’t love coffee because it wakes me up – tea does a pretty good job of that – I love coffee because there is something very romantic about cuddling up at a coffee shop, bringing a steaming hot mug (when I sit at a coffee shop I ALWAYS ask for a mug) of dark roast to my lips, and feeling the steam envelope my face as I gently blow – pursing my mouth just so. Feels like something out an old black and white film doesn’t it?

I eat that romantic stuff for breakfast. It’s my dream to live in a home with a tree in the backyard with a branch, 8 or 10 feet up, that is perfect for lounging up against with a good book – ideally one by L.M. Montgomery (I’m a huge Anne of Green Gables Fan).

I remember my very first cup of coffee: a double double from Tim Hortons. I lived on those bad boys during university. They pair best with a cheese croissant, lightly toasted. Slowly I made the transition to real coffee (I’m sorry Tim Horton’s fans, but that’s not real coffee).

Before I knew it, the added sugar and milk became a thing of the past. I bring my steaming cup of dark roast to the condiment counter and finish it off with a small sprinkle of cinnamon.  Perfection.

I gave up drinking coffee for an entire year once. My teeth were probably whiter, and my stomach a little less rattled, but there was something missing.

There is something that is just too perfect about holding a cup of coffee in your hand as you mull over a script doing text analysis. There is something bad-ass about clinging to a cup of coffee for dear life as you struggle through the night to meet a deadline.

There is something that is so binding about the collective “ahh” as your colleague returns from his/her coffee run, and everyone brings their coffee to their lips at the same time.  It’s especially satisfying if everyone is working on a project together. Even better: a creative project.

I’ll probably try to give up coffee several more times in my lifetime, but eventually I’m going to have to be honest with myself. Coffee and I have a special relationship that has nothing to do with caffeine.

Coffee makes me feel like an artist. If this is wrong, well… then I don’t want to be right.