The Ritual of Morning Coffee

The best morning ritual I know takes exactly seven minutes. It cannot be shortened. This is its whole virtue.

I have tried to speed it up — a faster kettle, pre-ground beans, a bigger filter. Every shortcut takes the same amount of time back out of me somewhere later in the day.

Attention as a first meal

Before the phone, before the inbox, before the news: seven minutes of attention paid to something that will be gone by nine. It is a small and stubborn declaration that the day is mine to shape.