The Way I See It... at Starbucks

This morning I met my friend, Nancy, at Starbucks. If I was writing these words four years ago, they would have had a different meaning. Four years ago, I actually met my friend, Nancy, at Starbucks... for the first time. I was reading Green Dolphin Street for my book club and she asked about it. We struck up a conversation and an hour later realized we both: had adopted children (nearly grown) from South Korea, were artists, loved to read, and considered ourselves to be spiritual... although we might define that a little differently, as she is Episcopalian and I'm Orthodox. (We also don't talk about politics....)

My daughter calls this friend "Starbucks Nancy" because I have another good friend named Nancy... but I digress...


Anyway, here we are four years later, still meeting twice a month at Starbucks. She teaches at the University of Memphis but comes into midtown for a church service on Wednesday mornings, so we meet in my neck of the woods. She usually brings some watercolor samples (she has some work at a show that opened recently at Fred Rawlings' Atelier Art Gallery) and we talk about our latest travels, art work, and yes, much to their chagrin, our grown children.


This morning as we talked I began to read the quotes on our coffee cups... and yes, I've noticed them before, but for some reason today they caught my attention more than usual. So, tonight I went to the Starbucks website and found a bunch more of them... and since I'm pretty tired, I'm just going to let some others do the writing for the rest of this blog post... a few inspirational thoughts from Starbucks coffee cups... beginning with their company intro:


Sparking conversation: In the tradition of coffee houses everywhere, Starbucks has always supported a good, healthy discussion. To get people talking, “The Way I See It” is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on our widely shared cups.

Since my friend Nancy is also a lawyer, I'll begin with #271...

The Way I See It #271
The law, for all its failings, has a noble goal – to make the little bit of life that people can actually control more just. We can’t end disease or natural disasters, but we can devise rules for our dealings with one another that fairly weigh the rights and needs of everyone, and which, therefore, reflect our best vision of ourselves.

-- Scott Turow, Author of Presumed Innocent and Limitations

And here's a good one for us writers and artists (and everyone, really) to keep pure about our work:

The Way I See It #245
A person’s pursuit of goodness leads to greatness, but the pursuit of greatness leads to ruin. Pursue goodness and you will achieve great things.

-- John E. KramerVice president of communications, Institute of Justice.



Not all the quotes are by "famous" people ... I like this one, from an ordinary customer like me:



The Way I See It #246
Sometimes good art is simply creating an honest mess.

-- Stacy D. Flood, Writer and Starbucks customer from Redmond, Washington.



This next one's a good one for me, as I've been struggling with anger lately... and yes, it can fuel artistic pursuits, but oh my, at what cost...?



The Way I See It #276
Anger is contagious.

-- Sandra Cisneros, Award-winning author of Caramelo, The House on Mango Street and Loose Woman.



And here's my favorite:

The Way I See It #257
Love wins.


-- Tavis SmileyTelevision and radio host, and author of What I Know for Sure.



And this one...



The Way I See It #27


Do not kiss your children so they will kiss you back but so they will kiss their children, and their children’s children.



Noah benSheah, Poet, philosopher and author of Jacob the Baker, Jacob’s Journey and Remember This My Children.



You can read an interview with Noah here ... which includes some good stuff about writing. (That's him, right.)

Okay... I'm off on a road trip tomorrow, so I might not be posting until early next week... we'll see. I'm escaping for a couple of days to the beach while it's still warm... with a stop in Mississippi to see my mom... and another trip to Arkansas after the beach... so... I'll be back on Monday!