Why We Need Coffee

Great Morning Y'all!

Today I want to share a recent conversation I had during my girlfriend's weekly 5-mile walk, The Board Walks.

This is where 100 people from Austin and San Francisco gather for open-minded conversations.

I’m highlighting a conversation about our dependency on drugs, like coffee, due to our lifestyle.

THE NEED FOR COFFEE

Being a long-time coffee drinker, and currently sipping on a cup.

I've been able to better understand why for the past few hundred years we've relied on this drug so much.

I have a unique perspective on human behavior,

which has allowed me to look at much of what plagues society through a completely different lens.

These insights have helped a few clients break unwanted addictions.

But for now,

let's keep it light and focus on coffee.

On my walk the other day, I was talking to a young couple in their early thirties.

We first discussed flow state,

how it feels to lose track of time and gain energy doing what we love.

We then shared how most people never experience flow state in their daily lives,

so every minute spent towards their job makes them feel more and more tired.

But why is that?

Is that how it's meant to be?

We sleep all night to hopefully have enough energy...

so that we can eat shitty food,

move our bodies in ways that drain us,

and work on things that make us feel like we need a nap once completed?

Is that really how we're supposed to live?

I refuse to believe that.

So in my conversation, the woman asked...

"I've grown such a dependency on coffee.

I've gotten a little better, because I used to run to the coffee shop like three times a day,

now it's usually only one or two big cups.

Why do you think I'm so dependent on it?"

Me:

"What does a normal day in your life look like?"

Her:

"Well, I wake up around 7, and talk to my boyfriend for a while.

I usually just grab a bagel and some coffee, then I drive to work.

I'm a graphic designer who works for a large company."

Me:

“Do you work in a cubicle, with the big fluorescent lights over you?”

Her:

"Yeah, I'm usually there for 8-plus hours a day.

I go grab something to eat from a restaurant nearby for my lunch break, and also pick up another coffee.

By the time I get home, I'm usually pretty tired.

So we cook something, drink some wine, watch a show on Netflix, then usually just pass out around 10."

Me:

I appreciate you sharing. Is it all right if I share my perspective on why so much coffee may be needed?

She:

Yeah, of course.

Me:

"In my experience, our need for common stimulants and depressants is caused by our detachment from humans' normal way of life.

We've lived like primals for most of our history.

Because of our new, unnatural lifestyle, we now rely on external sources in our daily routines.

We seek the same energy from our old lifestyle while living a new one.

Through no fault of our own, we're all just trying to pay our bills...

We've adopted a lifestyle that is completely removed from how we used to live as primates.

We spend nearly no time in nature,

under the sun,

moving our bodies,

eating real food,

and being in a real community.

Because many of us now adopt a lifestyle that includes none of the above,

we've had to create external sources to remedy our bodies' biological deficiencies.

This includes all pharmaceuticals,

and also daily stimulants and depressants, like coffee.

Coffee, whether we know it or not, acts like a mini-hallucinogen

that sends signals to our mind to override all signals from the body

telling us we're tired.

Now, I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing.

Coffee, or "burnt seed water," is what built the world as we know it today.

Overriding the feelings of being tired has been useful for so much of how we function today.

It's the drug that has given us the fuel to power through the unnatural.

People have relied on coffee to build our greatest buildings,

fight in wars for our freedom,

and do anything else that requires us to be awake and alert early in the morning.

I can't imagine how different our society would look without it.

I say all of this as someone who, as I already mentioned, drinks coffee nearly every day.

I've gone through seasons of my life where I'd drink it for a handful of months, then take off a few months.

Little cycles.

For me personally, this season of life is a building season.

Every morning, I wake up before the crack of dawn and stare at a white screen for hours,

writing these newsletters and working on business tasks.

There's nothing natural about that.

But it's serving me in this season of life."

Her:

"That all actually makes a lot of sense. So what do I do if I want to wean myself off of coffee?"

Me:

"You can of course try to go cold turkey, like the world tells you.

But good luck with that.

Spending most of your day in a cubicle will feel even tougher without something to get you through.

One thing I do recommend, right after I finish writing and the sun is beginning to come up,

is to go outside and put my feet in the grass.

I expose most of my body to the sun,

and go for a walk while drinking some high-quality water.

If you haven't noticed already, the sun is powerful and bright as heck,

meaning that it's best suited to wake us up and get us ready for the day.

The sun provides life to all living things on our planet, and we're definitely no exception.

The more we take incremental steps back to how our ancestors lived,

the easier it will be to let go of the crutches we use to get through the day.

I'm not saying the sun is going to make it so that we no longer need to drink coffee,

but I am saying that if we're truly only drinking coffee because of the (illusion of) extra energy it gives you,

this can also be achieved by spending time in nature and eating healthy, energizing foods."

Her:

"Well, I already know that. Even though I don't really do it,

I think I have a good grasp on what foods give me energy, and what foods make me want to take a nap right after."

Me:

Exactly, eat more of the energizing foods.

Every aspect of life...

Food, work, relationships, and so on...

Have energy takers,

and energy givers.

The more we cut out the energy takers,

and double down on the energy givers,

We'll unlock a new level of energy that we never knew was possible.

Her:

It really is that simple.

But what about my cubicle job?

Me:

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to pay the bills. If you love working here, and they need you in the office,

just focus on filling the other 16 hours of your day with more love, laughter, and nature...

but if you don't like working there...

Her:

"I don't like working there."

Me:

“Haha, okay. Well, maybe it's time to look at some other options.

If you love what you do, but don't love the environment you have to do it in,

I'm sure you can find some better alternatives.

Especially some work-from-home options.

When you have a break, it's easier to go outside for a walk or make some high-quality food.

Whatever it takes to get away from those fluorescent lights, haha.”

Her:

“You're so right.

So, you're saying that the more I live life in the sun, in nature, the easier it is to quit coffee?”

Me:

“Well... yeah.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, is:

‘Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against Nature.’

Coffee is simply the drug we use to remedy our low energy.

Coffee is neither good nor bad; it just "is what it is"

(like all things).

If you still want to enjoy it, or utilize it as a tool, like I do,

there's no problem with that.

But what my clients and I have noticed,

is that the cups of coffee in the morning,

and the glass of wine at night,

are less necessary when our lifestyle aligns with how humans have lived for thousands of years.”

Her:

(looks over to her boyfriend, who had been listening to the entire conversation)

Says to him, "We're going on daily morning walks now."

CONCLUSION

I'm no doctor,

I'm no nutritionist,

but I am an observant human who has made huge leaps when it comes to my own health and well-being.

I've only been able to do this by questioning how many of us have been taught to live.

I feel it's crucial, if we've found our own solutions to the many problems society faces, to share them.

I want to start doing that around health.

Not sure about "The Truth," because I have no idea what that is.

But I can share my truth, because it's changed my life, and for those ready to grow, it may change theirs.

Going back to nature,

under the sun,

moving our bodies,

eating real food,

and being in a real community...

That's my answer.

I hope this conversation serves you on your adventure.

That's it for today.

I hope you know that you are loved and enough.

See you tomorrow,

I unconditionally love you all.

-Cameron Hogan