My Battle With Coffee

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Photo & Editing by Cristina Nogueras ©

Photo & Editing by Cristina Nogueras ©

Hi, my name is Cristina and I’m fighting coffee addiction. I’ve seen loved ones suffer from caffeine deprivations and go through immense trouble to get a hold of coffee in the mornings. I’ve seen the sleepy eyes, the vacant stares and the tamed spirit that can only come from the absence of coffee.

I’ve never liked coffee. I think the first thing I ever ordered from Starbucks was a white chocolate frappuccino, just because it did not taste like coffee. How did I survive college? Diet coke perhaps? That’s still a mystery to me.

Now, in the real working world, I find myself fighting against the urge to get a cup of coffee every day. My reasoning?

  • It’s expensive to get the coffee I like (Not that I’m drinking gold, it just adds up)

  • I do not want to be addicted to coffee and then be unable to function without it

I think I’m losing this battle. I’m so much more productive and motivated when I drink coffee, I hate it. Why can’t I just wake up all sunshine and glitter every morning ready to hit the ground running? No, I have to depend on this warm and aromatic substance to fuel my system and power my brain. Then they have to come and make it pumpkin spice lattes and all these other alterations that make it actually wonderful to drink and so much more harder to resist it.

Is this it? Is this how I know I am now a real grown-up?

The 2013 Museum of Art & History

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The other day, when I was at the museum with my dad, I kept thinking how did people have the time to do so many beautiful things? Thinking of all the tapestries, hand made stuff and what-not. I thought, that’s right, they did not have internet. I think of all the wonderful things I could create if I was not busy liking pictures on Instagram and indulging in Netflix.

What will our generations have to show? Thinking about a museum for our generation, it will either be online or in a physical space full of touchscreens. Don’t get me wrong, it has the potential to be pretty cool. I already have a few ideas for whoever wants to design it, give me a call. But seriously, how can we top what has been left before us?

I wonder if past generations thought that their creations were not museum worthy. I wonder if it’s only time that makes them amazing.

“Oh hey, here’s this tapestry I just made*”.

Nobody cares.

“Oh hey, here’s this tapestry my great, great, great, great grandmother made back in 2013”.

“Oh wow, that’s truly fascinating”.

Boom.

 

 

* For the record, I don’t make tapestries.

Also, I do believe that we have a lot to show, don’t get me wrong. It’s just we have different things to show and I can’t help but wonder about it.

Peace, Love & Diet Coke.

“¡Papi, lo logramos!” / “Dad, we made it!”

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These words were the first words my dad heard when he woke up from surgery on a day like today, eight years ago.

It is impossible to reduce to one post all of the events leading up to that day and everything else that followed, but one thing I can say is that I couldn’t feel more grateful today. It’s easy to take things for granted; life is one of those things. We think we are indestructible and that no one can knock us down, then life happens and our body starts to fail.

Organ donation had never been something that I really thought about. When I got my driver’s license I was afraid of registering as an organ donor because I thought that if I had an accident it would affect my treatment (MYTH). Then my dad was told that in order to save his life he would need a new liver and everything changed. I think about this every single time people say they need a new liver because they drank so much over the weekend.

Truth is, my dad owes his life to a stranger in Florida who passed away and donated his liver. Whether it was that person’s choice or his family’s, we don’t know. Still, life is life and I’m grateful.

Life is weird and it changes its course as it pleases, without making announcements or informing threats. I’ve been grateful to have my dad with me for eight “extra” years and I can only hope that the number keeps increasing.

Needless to say, I’m now a registered organ donor.

Think about it.

To learn more about organ donation, click here.

Currently, more than 120,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants in the United States. 

Central Park: Feels Like Summer, Looks Like Fall

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Feels like summer, looks like fall

“Let’s go to the Bronx Zoo on Saturday!”

That was ambitious. You would think that for someone who trekked four hours to the beach every weekend of the summer a trip to the Bronx from Hoboken is nothing. But you know how it is, it’s the weekend, you get lazy and you end up at the Central Park Zoo (which is still an accomplishment considering I had to train 45 minutes from Hoboken).

The Central Park Zoo is actually not bad, considering they don’t have giraffes and that their polar bear recently died (RIP Gus).

It was a fun day where the summer and autumn played along nature and the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze made an excellent mix. Confusing for your choice of wardrobe, but one of the best weathers for a stroll down what I consider Manhattan’s gem: Central Park.

Casually visiting the tropic

Where concrete meets nature...

Leaves are turning...

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Scraps of Paper

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Little by little I want to share randoms thoughts in old notebooks, napkins or scraps of paper. Those old thoughts you just needed to write down in the moment that did not make much sense at the time, but now shine back at you in retrospect.

So here it goes.

“There is just that much you can control, there is just that much that you can hold back. Life can’t be amazing unless you give it a chance. Your fears can tie you back in ways you can’t really understand. At the end of the day it’s what you feel that’s real, the walls you’ve built and the timelines you’ve set are all fake; mere guidelines in a quest of finding happiness. Yes, you might get hurt and yes you will be sad again; but why let that stop you? Release can liberate you in more ways than one.” – Cristina Nogueras © Jaunary 9, 2013.

Treasures

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We all have scars, we all have pasts,

Stories that have been told,

Faces that have been forgotten,

Kisses that have been lost,

And smiles that still haunt us.

We all have footsteps spread around,

Footsteps that have been erased,

Marks that have been preserved.

We all have things we’ve left behind,

Memories that still ache,

Screams we still wish to release,

Tears we have shed in days far gone.

We all have holes that have made us whole,

Scars that have made us human,

Aches that have made us feel,

And tears that have taught us to love.

Because a love so pure can only come like that,

Polished and refined by wounds we still carry.

Because some things we forget,

Some things we carry forever,

Some things we just let go,

And some things become treasures forever.

Written by Cristina Nogueras © September 4, 2013.