Are You Making Coffee or Wine?

If you are like me, you feel the ideals of perfectionism and outstanding excellence that constantly have me wrapped up in everything I do, especially when it is a product/deliverable for others. It is hard for me not to care. Maybe it has something to do with what the perceptions of others would be, or maybe it’s a work ethic instilled by my upbringing, or maybe it comes from something entirely. No matter the source, perfectionism at times seems inescapable. Until I realized there was, in fact, a way to reframe the appropriateness of the type and approach of perfectionism that comes from “time spent”.

The realization came as I was working from home. I had toiled for a month or two modifying a course. Every time I thought it was good to go, I found a tiny mistake here, an outdated policy there. Needing a break, I started making some coffee, French Press. 5 minute bloom, 5 minute brew. Inherently, like anytime food is involved, it seems, it had me thinking deeper, specifically about my creative process. It’s almost as if by focusing on the task at hand, I had gained some KNOWLEDGE. I ended up asking myself: “With the course I’m trying to develop, am I trying to make coffee or wine?” Meaning: accepting the time limitations outside of my control, do I have long enough to make a really outstanding course with meaningful interactions, or do I need to put something together quickly and not dwell on it too long to inform the workforce of a new procedure?

FOCUS, is the art of pruning the irrelevant and pouring the best of your mind into what you are doing. At the time, the stakeholders did not need something completely polished; the demand was immediate and swift, as if to plug a hole in a sinking ship, quicker than making a cup of coffee. More long-term solutions could be made after we’ve made it back to harbor, making wine as it were.

Not everything is as cut and dried at the onset, though, but that’s where the WISDOM comes in. Even in brewing coffee, it requires intentionality and precision in a very short span of time. If you brew the coffee too long, it becomes bitter and no amount of creamer and sugar will overcome the bitter taste. Wine also requires intentionality and precision, but the quality arises from the systems and forethought that creates an environment for a wine to age.

The 7th teaching says in full: “The Jedi foster an acceptance of limitations. To change the world is to change our perceptions of and perspectives towards it. Indeed, we are capable of amazing acts, especially when we rely on the flow of the Force. Yet, as incarnated, organic beings we must understand that the power is that of the Force, without which we are mere matter.”

Before all of what the 7th teaching promises, it all starts with fostering an acceptance of limitations.

When you enter ANY sort of process, first ask yourself in relation to your end goal: “Am I making coffee or am I making wine?" Let the context gained in realization create the path before you; but Jedi I would like to ask you: How do you find, in yourself, if you are brewing coffee or aging wine. Are there pursuits you are currently underway with that need to be reexamined?

May focus give rise to your knowledge, so you may cultivate wisdom.