Coffee & Artisan Politics.

Coffee & Artisan Politics.

Reflections: Stephanie Lynne Thorburn.

Personal blog & thoughts on the role of writers' & artists retreats,

as a medium for personal and social sanctum...

Images:  Bio-resonance healing art by Stephanie Lynne.

Stephanie & Linda Thorburn, encapsulated in the solace of H & H stores, Nov 2015,  

Barnet and north Finchley.

  The primary role of a "writers' retreat" and sanctum is so integral to the life, heart & soul

of writers and artists alike.  When I was cultivating my recent 'Thought Matrix' series, many aspects of my trilogy were conceived whilst sipping Peach blossom tea, laced with soy cream within the safe haven of my local organic and natural coffee shop.  Refreshments reflect both personal penchants and individuality so beautifully- ideally a truly functional artisan coffee house will supports both individuality and idiosyncratic expressionism!

Last week represented practical crises in so many aspects of my pragmatic existence.  I endured serious personal health issues, PC power cuts and two missed socials events involving my sporting idols; (Jimmy White being one).  None of this is significant however, compared to the terrible events politically in Paris.  All these aspects of everyday tragedy, flux and social change were however bearable- but only for a limited time...

'Harris & Hoole' has certainly become my personal safe-haven and a spiritual retreat for me to recharge and rejuvenate my personal energy and karma...  News however spreads fast and to crown top this week 'horribilis'- both my local branches of this salubrious coffee house were closed over last weekend- permanently.  I have been left bereft, with raw emotions, now clutching my alternate mass market coffee reward cards, with further promise of comparable free Wifi access from the UK's leading coffee market competitors in a crowded market, (distinctive brand names remaining discreetly anonymous!)

Peach organic white tea, sympathetic honey blossom delights and soy bohemian pleasures have now dissipated off my radar.  The rain and cold is starting to bite this winter season and my sanctum and writer's haven is lost.  With a heavy cold, a journey into the city to locate an alternate branch of H & H for a little 'tealeaf' therapy looks unlikely at present.  In the meantime, I have placed some personal snaps in pride of place within my personal blog to celebrate the epicurean memories of my local H & H artisan coffee house.  A true "home from home'' -there were many families and locals who relied on the health giving brews of these sophisticated organic and natural specialists- serving north London as a unique concept.  The hegemony of economic logics awaits.  The homogeneity of 'C***a' and 'P***' are like anonymous expletives, with the ironically named, (I will say only once), 'Coffee Republic' now representing the sole remaining branded options, in a market where only the most crass of consumer cultural tastes appear to survive... 

Let me be the voice of egalitarianism, because even the universal domain of English tea and coffee consumption would appear to have become pervaded with distinctive cultural politics. 

Sincerely, Stephanie Lynne.  Nov, 2015.

Related links:

Author's homepage:  http://www.stephaniethorburn.webs.com

Harris & Hoole homepage: 

http://www.harrisandhoole.co.uk/

* And 'Thought Matrix' - a trilogy nurtured within the sanctum of H & H!

See author's profile: http://www.amazon.com/Human-Matrix-Magnum-Thought-Trilogy-ebook/dp/...

Below images:  Fond memories of refreshment delights, consumed in Finchley 'H & H'.