There’re many ways to prepare and enjoy coffee: filter coffee, espresso, french press, you name it. If you wish, you can even enjoy junk coffee such as instant coffee and canned ones. Each is of different flavour and fits different purposes. I enjoy filter coffee a lot. In a controlled manner, you extract only the part of coffee with the best taste, leaving behind the unpleasant scent and coffee oil.

What if life can be controlled like filter coffee?

There’re a few writers that I appreciate whose primary job is something else. Au Lok Man, for instance, is a doctor, while Yip Long Ching is a private banker. They often talk about the funny bits and pieces in their job. Seldom do they complain about their jobs and their lives. Do they not have things to worry about, and things that annoy them? I don’t think so, but they always have the ability to extract the better part of their lives and write about them.

Sadly, in my own pot of life-coffee there’s a mix of everything — dissatisfaction, distress, depression, worry, etc. Of course there could be at least some excitement, but I just can’t filter the setbacks and extract only the desirable part to enjoy. I’d really like to enjoy life like I enjoy coffee, but that’s difficult, if not impossible.