Dreaming Big

If you've taken a passing glance at my bio, you will have seen that I study Nutrition as well as write. Food and words are my two great loves for many reasons, more than I really have space for in this one blog post. I have a Why I Write post in the works, but my brain has been a bit here and there, so I'm waiting until I have the right mindset to tackle that one properly. So, that will have to wait for now.

Recently, I've been thinking of ways I can combine them so I can do both the things I love at once. As much as I do enjoy science, it's less important to me if I can turn the other two into Real Jobs somehow.

Cafe culture in Australia is generally pretty great, because as a country we are obsessed with both amazing coffee and delicious brunch food. Still, during the week, cafes cater to the work crowd, so they'll be open very early for breakfast and through early afternoon for lunch, but that's it. On the weekend it's no better, because while we love our brunches, most dinners are left under the purview of 'real' restaurants. So, cafe hours are often quite limited, and fair enough, as that's what they can make a business catering to. There are a few exceptions to this rule, though very few, and it's possible that Melbourne with its strong artsy leanings caters to the writer better than Sydney often can.

Still, I've sort of latched on to this idea of a very writing-focused cafe, with much longer and much later hours overall. Someplace with super cozy chairs and tables to encourage you to spend time there, and a courtyard that's easily covered so that you can take advantage of fresh air and sunny days as they come. Perhaps there would even be a super quiet zone upstairs with proper desks instead of cafe tables that worked more as a hot-seat writing space, but you could still order up coffees and snacks as needed. There'd be books all over the walls, of course, in case you want to take a break from work and just want to lounge about for a while reading. The hours would cater to writers and students and freelancers, those of us who don't adhere to those strange 'office hours'. There'd still be morning hours for the weirdos that do wake up before noon, but breakfast and brunch would be served all day and we'd stay open until late, till just about all those more sensible people have gone to bed.

Honestly, that sounds like heaven to me. And I'd probably go for it too, if I ever made enough money from writing or other work to invest in its start up.

I'm pretty ok with others stealing this idea and going for it, cause I think places like this should exist! Although, maybe not if you live in Sydney, cause I want to do it here? Maybe? Some day?