Blogging from A to Z: Coffee and creativity, best when freshly brewed

Ever notice the smell of fresh coffee beans? They smell so good, you can almost taste the deep, rich flavor without even brewing a pot. I’m fond of exotic flavors of coffee like Chocolate Raspberry, Toasted Hazelnut or Cinnamon Bun. Many times the smell of the beans is more gratifying than the actual cup of coffee, unless I add Stevia and loads of cream.

This Blogging from A to Z Challenge is just that: a challenge for me to write something substantive each day in April (sans a few Sundays). When I first signed up, I had robust intentions of writing the first six blog posts and scheduling them to run. The “smell” of the challenge awakened my senses to wanting to participate. I had ideas swirling in my head and the possibilities were endless. The idea of being disciplined enough to write a blog almost daily was sweet to me and I liked the idea of being part of a community of bloggers trying to achieve the same goal.

While I did mark on a calendar the letter associated with each day, I didn’t get the blog posts written in advance. Perhaps that’s part of the challenge — being able to write something worth reading in a short amount of time, with limited opportunity for editing/revision. Each newly written post is like a cup of freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee (or green tea for you teetotallers). It’s like the Keurig coffee philosophy of blogging: make the best, single cup of coffee possible and enjoy it in its entirety before making a second cup. I always think it’s easier to make an entire pot of coffee in the morning so I can drink it through early afternoon. Not to mention being able to share a cup or two with my husband, co-workers, etc.

My mother-in-law’s children pooled Christmas money together and bought her a Keurig machine, complete with a starter pack of “K-cups.” At first I thought it was an odd concept. Why would anyone want to make just one cup of coffee? I heard a Sister of Providence say that she limits herself to one cup of coffee in the morning and that she’d often go without because she didn’t want to make an entire pot only to waste the leftovers. The Keurig philosophy worked perfectly for her because she only made the amount of coffee that she wanted. Grand idea!

Some mornings it’s too much effort to make the pot of coffee. I’d then dream about setting the timer on the coffee pot the night before, with the goal of awaking to freshly brewed coffee. No extra morning effort needed! Sounds a lot like my trying to circumvent having to write a blog post each day by writing a bunch all at once and scheduling them to post.

So, I’m taking the Keurig approach to this Blogging from A to Z Challenge and hope that I can pour a satisfying, complete cup of creativity into my (almost) daily blog, without trying to plan too far ahead or fast-track my ideas. I hope the smell of the beans is not the best part of the experience for you readers!