Need Inspiration? Drink Coffee

After two years of not drinking any coffee, I can state with confidence that the real key to creativity is caffeine.

Long have writers and artists frequented cafes and coffeehouses. Some skeptics and critics mistakenly perceive this coffeehouse obsession with the need to be seen writing or painting. Sorry to disappoint the cynical, but the real reason that artists and writers frequent the local coffeehouse or Starbucks is simple.

Caffeine jump starts creativity.

Caffeine helps you write faster.

Caffeine invigorates your mind.

It encourages the brain to make creative leaps never recognized with the un-caffeinated mind.

In the defense of health, admittedly, coffee, like anything else is okay in moderation. And in the name of science, none of the above statements have been proven in a laboratory or approved by the FDA. The statements are based purely on experience. Namely, mine.

While pregnant, my body stopped wanting coffee. I just up and stopped drinking it one day. The only reason I continued with tea drinking was because without one cup of caffeine in the morning I was making silly mistakes at work that I would not have normally made. I could not even make logical connections with pregnancy brain, never mind creative connnections.

I also did not drink caffeine for the first year after my son was born, because I was nursing him. This was purely my choice. I know that I am sensitive to caffeine, and there is a chance that he would be too. I am not one of those people who can have caffeine at night and then sleep. I can't even have caffeine after 2pm and sleep well.

I recently considered giving up the newly found coffee habit that I found about four months ago. I completely forgot how good coffee tasted, how much more satisfying and jolting it can be than a peaceful cup of tea. Caffeine makes creative juices flow like white water rapids, where tea produces a more steady stream.

The problem is, I am convinced that the coffee intake, just one to three small cups each morning is directly related to the amount of content I produce, and more importantly, to the endless number of ideas that erupt in my mind while enjoying a warm cup of coffee.

For anyone who needs some inspiration, or wants to tap into their creativity, or a jump start on writing. Have a cup of coffee. Go to you favorite coffeehouse, laptop in tow, or set up in your favorite chair at home. Have an empty word processing document ready to go. Keep paper and pen nearby. Enjoy the coffee and the ideas that will flow.

No, I won't be giving up my morning caffeine anytime soon.