Existentialism in a Coffee Mug: What Your Morning Brew Tells About Your Life
Morning: The First Sip of Meaning
In a sleepy stupor, with droopy eyes and am craving for caffeine, one may walk into the kitchen unaware of his actions. With first sip of coffee as one touches the mug to the lips, there is suddenly an awakening, both corporeal and existential. This simple act, this daily ritual bears the most profound load of thought, will, absurdity of existence. This is the philosophy of coffee.
Sartre and Camus did not write much about espresso shots or lattes, but surely they would consider your coffee routine a metaphor of life itself. The ritual, choices, and reliance on an external substance to feel 'alive'-each of them is deeply symbolic. What does your coffee say about your state of being?
Coffee Choice Paradox: Are You Truly Free?
You do think you're choosing your coffee, Rothko-black, oat-milk latte, or overpriced cold brew-aren't you? To you, your decision is a true instance of free will. Or is it?
Jean-Paul Sartre, father of existentialism, would likely say that the way you choose coffee epitomizes radical freedom-you give definition to your existence according to the choices you make. But have you ever stopped to consider if that choice were anything but a product of years of marketing, your habits, and the culture you grew up in? What if you take the same coffee every day? Does that still count as living a real life, or is that just playing a part? Are you truly making a choice, or is the choice being made for you?
The Daily Ritual: Absurdity in a Mug
According to French philosopher and writer Albert Camus, the essence of the absurd is integral to your caffeinated ritual. You wake up, you make coffee, you drink it, you wake up, and you repeat. Day in and day out. It's the same thing again. Some call it comforting, but for Camus, it is absurd-an unending chain of life that, in the end, is devoid of meaning.
Yet absurdity, according to Camus, is not a reason for despair but a reason for acceptance. You may have to learn to embrace the act of grinding beans and boiling water, like Sisyphus rolling his boulder up the hill only to watch it roll back down again.
The Black Coffee Nihilist vs. The Sugar-Coated Optimist
Your coffee order says a lot about your philosophy, whether you know it or not:
Black Coffee: You look deep into the abyss, and the abyss looks right back. No sugar, no milk-just reality—raw and unfiltered. You take life straight and keep it strong and bitter-so strong it's sometimes unmanageable, but it's all yours to deal with.
Latte Drinkers: You accept the absurdity of life, but you want to put some frothy comfort around it. Maybe you're sorta an existentialist, but you're also a realist-why suffer when you can give yourself a little comfort?
Espresso: Life is short and intense. You don't want to waste it on trivialities; you'd rather take it all in one strong, tiny shot.
Decaf: Denial? Hope? A rebellion against yourself? Either way, decaf is the ultimate absurdity in this one.
Caffeine and Seeking the Meaning of Life
We drink coffee to wake up. The question, however, is what, or who, wakes up? While existentialists would argue that life has no predetermined meaning-we must create it for ourselves- on some days such a meaning may just seem elusive before that first sip of caffeine.
Think about your reasons for drinking coffee. Is it only an obsession? A necessity? A small treat in an indifferent world? The existentialist would say that no reason is more ‘valid' than another-the only thing that matters is that you define it for yourself. Perhaps coffee, just a drink, is a rebellion against the emptiness of it all, or perhaps it's something else.
The Barista and the Waiter: Authenticity versus Performance
Sartre had a hotly debated idea called "bad faith," where people deceive themselves into acting like they have no choice and these people, instead of living authentically, perform certain roles that other people believe they should. An example he used: a waiter doing his job too well-over polite, too mechanical with his gestures, lazily denying being just a waiter.
Now, look at your barista. Is he genuinely relishing what he does? Or is he simply acting as a barista, wandering in and out amidst the absurdity of serving coffee? And you yourself-are you playing the role of a morning coffee customer, filling a pre-scripted conversation? And if you are, does it really matter?
Nightfall: That Existentially Decaf Dilemma
It gets to that time of day where you enter the Ultimate Question: Do you drink coffee after 6 PM? The rational side says no, sleep is probably important. The absurd, irrational side, however, argues that the now is all that matters; the future is still uncertain. Who cares if you will regret it in the middle of the night? What if the existentialist within you wishes to embrace the absurd and drink an espresso anyway?
This is existentialism, pure and simple: acknowledging the freedom of decisions, even if they seem silly. I mean, life is one big question mark—what's one more cup?
Last Sip: Embracing the Absurd, One Cup at a Time
At the end of the day, your coffee doesn't have to mean a thing. It can be just a drink or a tiny existential statement about life. Really, the most crucial part is stopping, sipping, and existing for a moment.
So tomorrow morning, ask yourself that first sip: Am I drinking this coffee, or is the coffee drinking me?
Either way, enjoy it.