The Virtual Life - Darling Coffee

Foccacia at Darling Coffee

Hi Everyone,

I must say, I do think the virtual life is the dream.  Think about it:  securing interviews while lying in bed, the sound of new indie music or Netlfix playing in the background, the ability to meet whoever whenever and perhaps most important to me, the ability to work out in the mornings and never put a cap on my evenings.  It's the dream.  And I have no complaint.

Still, every world has obstacles to navigate.  My main one is not even how I am going to meet people. Being involved in the fashion, music and financial industries all at once, that tends to happen through the glorious internet and being in the luscious hub that is NYC.  It's more - how do I feel like I'm in the swing of things? How do I feel like my life is in motion?  My cozy, artsy room in Washington Heights is a perfect place for inspiration.  But nothing compares to being out on the town with fellow New Yorkers - watching them converse, type, rush into and rush out of their obligations...

Basically, each coffee shop in New York City is a microcosm of the world.

Early this morning, I decided that I would get up and try out a coffee shop near where I live. It's called Darling Coffee and I remember it from the one time I rushed in for breakfast before my cousin's fifth grade graduation.  I fell in love with the pictures on Yelp and of course the fact that it has unlimited free wifi.

The way the shop is set up is that there are several communal tables where computers are "allowed." There are smaller tables where computers aren't,  I guess to dissuade people like me from chilling all day.  Olivia and I settled at one of the larger tables and quickly realized that two other young people about our age were deep in the job search.  When it became obvious that we were listening in, the introduction was quite easy.  It is my belief that no one is really a stranger in NYC.  Whatever people say about us, that we are cold and unfriendly, it's simply not true.  Finding common ground is easy when you're in the same space with the same goals and the same plight.

Gangsta Mo told me that I should blog about all the coffee shops I go to.  It was the idea that made my day.  I'm already getting grounded in the virtual world.  What I'm lacking is grounding in the "real world" - the world of NYC that I belong to.  Writing about the coffee shops I visit not only makes me present in this world but also inspires me to get out and explore.  I'm working but I'm also enhancing my knowledge of the city I love and hopefully building my network along the way.

The virtual life is a dream.  A multi-faceted, laptop lugging, wooden-tabled, coffee roasting dream.

http://www.darlingcoffeenyc.com