What’s that, you say?!

Could it be?!

Is it really?!

It IS!

The Five Minute Coffee Corner is BACK!!!!! And with a rebranded (OK shortened name!) Welcome to The Coffee Corner.

HELLO dear reader, and happy Friday!

It’s been a whole year – a year and a month to be exact – I’ve graced you with these short nuggets of interesting things I’ve seen, listened to, and read that I believe may bring some joy to your life.

How the hell are you?! How have you been for the last year and a month?

I’m really hyping myself up here aren’t I? I bet you hadn’t even noticed I’d (although I know at least some of you have because you’ve messaged me about it so it’s not all just me blowing my own trumpet here LOL!)

Anyway, last year was a crazy one, but I really, really, REALLY miss writing these weekly blog instalments. I have always shared about how writing frees me up mentally, gives me some order in my life when things feel out of control, and helps me make sense of the world around me, but it’s almost felt impossible to dive back in and start writing again these last few months.

I set a goal at the start of 2023 to write every day. And believe it or not, I have been! Just not publishing. But I’m hoping to change that and start sharing things I think could bring you some joy on a weekly basis, while giving myself some calm and order in the process. You get something to watch on Netflix and I get some mental calm and inner peace, sounds like a win win to me!

So let’s get started with this week’s recommendations shall we?

Reading

The Artist’s way by Julia Cameron

My goal for this year was to read more than last year, which wouldn’t really be all that difficult on account of the fact that I read basically NOTHING last year. I did read, but it was definitely less than 10 books in the entire year. THAT won’t be happening again this year.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but in my field of work (personal development/self-help) I have heard The Artist’s Way been thrown around a lot, and it has been on my “to buy” list for years. Lately, I have felt compelled to actually purchase it and I’ve started reading it, and what do you know? Here I am writing.

Many people attribute their creative endeavours to this book – be it the creation of a brilliant film, learning to play the piano and create a beautiful piece of music, or write a marvellous book (Elizabeth Gilbert credits it for her writing the beautiful book-turned-film Eat Pray Love for example).

Has this book unlocked my creative juices and persuaded me to start writing again or is it just coincidence that I so happen to start writing just after I started reading this book? Who knows. But what I would say is I am SO excited to get stuck into The Artist’s Way and reap the rewards and benefits it promises to give me (basically bring my creativity back, and dare I say finally finish the book I’ve been working on for years!)

Anyway, if you’re a creative of any sort (the book actually refers to the fact that we are ALL creative, we just need to find our way back to it) I would already recommend this book and I’m only about 2 chapters in.

I’ll report back next week with an update, but other creatives, watch this space!

Watching

MISS AMERICANA: tAYLOR sWIFT

It is no secret that I adore Taylor Swift. When I was about 17 I first saw Taylor Swift in the Hannah Montana movie where she sang “Crazier” and I instantly loved her just as much as I loved Miley Cyrus. I went to see her when I was 18 and I just loved everything about her.

I have to admit, when she went through the huge generic pop phase, I didn’t intentionally stop listening or following, it just kinda wasn’t my thing anymore. Then in 2020 with the surprise release of Folklore during the first lockdown, which we can all recall was bloody grim. I felt like my entire world had become colourful once again and that album brought hours and hours of pure, unfiltered joy back into my life.

Her followup album Evermore came close to having the same response, and honestly, her latest album Midnights has spoken to me on a visceral level. I really do think she is one of the most talented songwriters and human beings in existence. There are so many people who won’t even give her music the time of day based on her history of pop and being a bit generic, but they’re missing out in my opinion. She is extremely talented and, of course I can’t confirm because I don’t know her, but she just seems GREAT, and like a girl that I would choose to be friends with.

I don’t know how I haven’t seen this documentary until now because it came out in 2020, but I decided to watch it and I absolutely loved it.

Even if you aren’t a Taylor fan, I think that this documentary had some fascinating insight into the life of a celebrity and creative. It made me think about two things. 1) it really made me wonder why anybody would ever want to be a celebrity and have a life that is lived in the public eye, but 2) it also made me greateful for the fact that some people do want that life and they share their magic with millions of people, including me. Thank god they do.

Taylor Swift is an absolute class act. A true role model especially to young girls and also just a general fucking badass. I think there is so much we can learn from her perspective in this documentary. She talks so much sense and highlights very real issues, and I loved watching her grow and change – both in person and in her music. It was so interesting to see the transformation from this young country girl to whatever the hell her genre is now which I don’t actually know, but it was great.

People change. We all change. I’m not even the person I was 6 months ago, let alone 10 years ago. This documentary was a really beautiful display of the growth and evolution of a person.

Listening

C’EST LA VIE NO. 2 – PHOSPHorescent

I don’t even know how I discovered this song, have you heard it? I think it was maybe one of the songs that Spotify suggested on a playlist, that’s how I discover much of my new music nowadays. But I have been listening to it absolutely non stop lately. I just love it so much, it is brilliant and really thought-provoking.

I recommend that you give it a listen, you can listen to a very short snippet of it here. YOU ARE WELCOME!

Before You Go…

I have written on my blog about various topics (house move and skin cancer mainly in the last year as understandably, they have been taking up a lot of my time) but The Coffee Corner is always the one that feels like the biggest outlet for me, the one where I get to truly write from the heart and just say it how it is, with no real purpose or direction, no real reason for writing other than to simply write for the pleasure of it. I think that’s what I love about it so much.

It’s great to be back with you dear reader. Really it is. I say it to many people but this series especially is my way of just writing and putting my feelings out to the universe, so the fact that people read it and can also benefit from it in some way is a bonus to me.

A lot happened in the last year, but above all else I’m just glad to be back with you. Whether you read this every now and again, every week, or never (though I guess that’s not really valid if you’re here reading now), I’m grateful for you and your time!

Have a beautiful weekend, I’m off to a wedding and can’t wait for a weekend of joy and happiness. I’ll see you next week!