By Aaron Evans, Opinion Editor
Every morning I make a cup of coffee. Every. Morning. Sometimes I make another cup in the afternoon, maybe even a third after that, if I’m feeling less than 100 percent. I often find myself in Starbucks or Common Grounds on the weekends along with a slew of other college students, eyes glued to their laptops. I’m constantly in conversation about different kinds of coffee beans and roasts, what coffee shops brew the best cup, where to buy the best coffee beans and so on.
My love of good coffee has branded me several with different titles: hipster, addict, coffee snob and my personal favorite, “coffee head” (used ever so affectionately by my mother). Earlier this year, I found myself drinking six cups of coffee a day and knee-deep into a heavy caffeine addiction that I was forced to break due to medical issues. However, I found myself asking the question: “why do I need this drink? Why do look forward to it? And why are people obsessed with it?”
Our culture loves anything that makes us feel like a better version of ourselves, whether that be clothing, movies, music, you name it. We love to be the “movie person”, or the “music guy”, or anything that lets us attach a label to ourselves. I think it’s safe to say that within the past several years, coffee has become that crutch for our generation. More than that, it’s developed it’s own culture.
Before I go any further, I want to be clear that I see nothing wrong with coffee, people who drink it or even the culture behind it. Everyone has interests and passions, and if coffee is yours, then go for it. However, this trend is only an example of an over arching theme of our culture attaching themselves to something like music, coffee, literature or the outdoors. And Asbury isn’t exempt from that.
We are practically screaming to be noticed, to seem unique and set apart from the “rest of the crowd.” We are a culture of millennials who are searching for our own unique “thing” so that we might be noticed. Within this are thousands of twenty-somethings each trying to lay claim on something like coffee or music to make them different. Again, none of these things are bad, but there are surface level interests. The things we like do not define our inner selves.
So I bet you’re wondering by now, so what? Why does it matter if I really like coffee or hiking or collecting vinyls? It doesn’t. However, there is more to who we are than the surface, material things. You are more than the just “the coffee guy” or the “worship girl.” By letting people only experience those surface aspects of who we are, they miss out on the real us, and I’m including myself in this because I’ve been guilty of it myself.
So as you’re slow roasting your favorite coffee beans or embarking on a wilderness expedition or shopping at Urban Outfitters, just remember, you are more than the things you like.
