claire on "one simple joy."

Every twenty-something I know who's working a "career" job seems to be finding it difficult to attain that work-life balance that is so important. My friends and I seem to have trouble figuring out how to juggle work, relationships, friendships, and household duties, while still taking time for fun and personal time. While having no fun is...well, no fun, the absence of personal time concerns me. On my end, I'm hoping that by the spring of this year, my first year teaching high school, I'll be able to work in more "me time" and get back to one of my favorite simple pleasures...

I love sleeping in (not too late), and getting up, walking down the street to pick up a newspaper, and going to a coffeeshop or bagelery to plunk down and do the crossword. There's something so intoxicating in the combination of the smell and taste of a hot cup of coffee, one's favorite writing implement, and the touch--even the smudgeable smell--of newsprint in a blocked grid. This was one of my favorite graduate school rituals, and at that time I had a partner-in-crime to meet me for a coffee and crossword. Some days when work is hectic and I've been at school for 13 hours, in my mind I transport myself to a random Wednesday morning in March or October or June. Instantly, I feel the delight of having a conversation with a close friend that's interrupted by bursts of inspiration for 15-Across or 31-Down and the slow sips of a still hot cup of joe.

--Claire DePalma, blogger of labyreves (and close pal who in graduate school graciously called and asked me to coffee dates, often).

photo via Clearwater Farm's photostream