Today I am sitting with my book in a coffee shop, Butter Bakery and Cafe, in Minneapolis.  A coffee shop is a really amazing place to observe and be reminded that people are kind and caring and working very hard to connect.  It is a place to watch families and friends share the stories of their lives.

This particular coffee house is also a wonderful place to support a local business that lives and breathes sustainability in everything it does.  Butter uses compostable and local products; hires local youth and offers internships to youth in transitional housing; pays a livable wage (no tips); regularly and intentionally participates and hosts community events; and sources coffee from Wildflyer Coffee, whose vision is ending youth homelessness.

It is a wonderful place to remember exactly why I care about creating a sustainable future.  I am honored they invited me to share their space.

However, I am also reminded that a coffee shop is not a great place to sell books.  People are engaged in their own beautiful interactions.  They do not need to be interrupted and they certainly did not come to buy a book.  They came to enjoy a scone and each other.  So, I am greeting people if they make eye contact, sharing stories about the products I have displayed, and briefly mentioning the book.

I am not going table to table,  I am not selling.  I am choosing to just join in the space and feel gratitude for the people who are here having moments of reprieve and connection. I am talking with the staff, who have been coming over to connect during their breaks. I am accepting this is where I am supposed to be right now and knowing I am learning what I am supposed to learn.

Butter has a newsletter.  I will share a story of the book and invite people to pre-order and join our subscriber list there.    

I think coffee shops will be better venues when I have copies of the book available so people can pick it up and buy it on the spot.

In the meantime, I will look for places where I can speak.  If the focus is the book from the beginning, it will not be an interruption to life but a chosen focus.  Places of faith and worship, community organizations, book stores, libraries, learning spaces.  

If you would like me to speak about creating a sustainable life and writing a sustainable  book, please reach out.  I love speaking and this is a topic dear to my heart.  In person or virtual.  

If you are part of a sustainable business or organization and want to order books. talk about a partnership, or learn about how to be part of the book, please contact us.  We would love to talk with you.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Butter and their partners, please check them out here:

https://butterbakerycafe.com/

https://wildflyercoffee.com/ 

https://www.beaconinterfaith.o...  (housing for youth houselessness)

In Sustainability and Appreciation,

Lori