Why Coffee?

I have started this blog with little thought about how to name it, how to design it, or what voice to use when writing it. What was clear in my mind was the idea that it was going to be “coffee”.

Why coffee?

I initially thought that it’s going to be a hang out place for people who do not have anything better to do. I envision it to be like Starbucks—online version. I saw that it could be a place to chill; a place to chat over a cup of brewed coffee or a venti Frappuccino, depending on your taste and temperament.

In St. Louis University, during our break, my colleagues and I would talk about how things went in our previous classes over a cup of coffee. It would somehow soothe us from stress, calm us from over-excitement (or annoyance/irritation, for that matter), or just to quench our thirst. We would also share how we discussed a certain poem, fiction or play in class, or if students liked Shakespeare better than Elizabeth Barret-Browning, or if whether to discuss Rizal’s Makamisa or not anymore. The most brilliant ideas often surface when we gather over coffee.

Also, I envision this blog, like coffee, in a sense that we all drink it regardless of economic status, gender, ethnicity or whatever else. Coffee has remained to be one of the most in-demand commodities in the world—and that kind of democratization of a certain good appealed to me. I hope that I am able to reach out to people with different tastes, backgrounds and preferences of all sorts. And I hope I am understood by the youngest of my readers, but not bore the maturest of them, either.

But most importantly of all, I made coffee the central metaphor of this blog to connote a certain wake-up call (or energy boost) that we should already change our ways to have a better life. We all deserve to be financially well. We all deserve to get out of debt. We all deserve to provide the best for our families. And we all deserve to be rich.

Being rich is not about having too much excess money than you actually need. Being rich is about feeling that you are living in abundance and in comfort. Being rich is about feeling secure that you will never have to starve yourself and your family ever again. And, being rich is being able to impart and share something to others because you feel blessed and fortunate.

I hope we continue to find ways to get rich and to attain our financial goals. And this is only possible through continuously seeking out, asking, or reading about how we can further improve our financial situation.

So, I say, share that coffee.

Share the joy of it.

Share because you deserve it as much as the person next to you. And share because God loves you.