Last Thursday was the official release date of the Starbucks Christmas menu. Needless to say, as soon as class was over, I knew exactly how to reward myself after a long day of work. You see, my drink of choice is more than just a drink to me, which I know sounds silly. When you hear somebody order a sugar cookie latte with almond milk, it may sound like just a sign of the season. However, when I take a sip of this drink, I think about more than just the taste. I think about the end of the year as a whole, and the things that have brought me comfort throughout that time.
Though I love the season of fall and the beginning of winter, I do tend to become depressed that the year is finishing and that I have not accomplished everything I have wanted to. In particular, I felt this way very heavily a couple of years ago. During that time, I dealt very heavily with seasonal depression, as weird as that may sound from a Texan. I remember trying to find ways to cope with my anxious feelings, and one of them was journaling. Specifically, I started journaling at coffee shops around the area where I lived, one of them being Starbucks. And though I don’t remember the first time I got the sugar cookie latte, I do remember an experience I had with the drink. One day, I remember arriving at Starbucks, ready to journal, but unsure of where my head was. But as I sat down with my sugar cookie latte and began to take small sips, I slowly started to feel at ease. I know that sounds pretty contradictory since I am talking about caffeine here, but there was something about the taste and the atmosphere in that certain moment that made me feel so cozy that I felt I could breathe. And so, as I started journaling, I realized that, as I wrote, I felt better about where I was in the year, and consequently, in life. It truly was one of the best journaling sessions that I had had in a long time, and I still look back on it fondly. And I credit a lot of that to the Starbucks sugar cookie latte with almond milk.
Now, I am not saying that every time I drink the sugar cookie latte, I have a new ground-breaking realization (that would be amazing, but no). What I am saying is that for me, this specific order has given me ease in the midst of change, whether that be seasonal, academic, or temporal. In the larger sense, it has reminded me to be grateful for the year that I have had and to make goals for the year to come without completely stressing myself out, whether that be through scrolling on Pinterest or a junk journaling session. So as THE Mariah Carey begins to defrost and the times begin to change, I encourage you to find something tangible that gives you comfort, whether that is specific to the end of the year (like a Christmas-flavored coffee) or not. Happy holidays!