Home.

The last leg of my five day eastbound cross country drive was the shortest and also the most sentimental. In Harrisburg, PA, spring had not yet sprung but as I motored down the BW parkway, I opened the car windows and breathed in the sweet smell of dogwoods and redbuds beginning to bloom. 

I was tired but I knew there was one place to visit before I could hang my hat at home; Eastern Market.  The market gleamed in the mid afternoon sun and I got out for a few mins to walk over to our vending spot, vacated for the week along with the rest of the outdoor market.  I smiled and felt a simple feeling of gratitude mixed with inspiration. The past several years of working and growing Cam’s Kettle here in the DMV created a certain love/hate relationship with the city, however, the grass is seldom greener on the other side. The rest of the US is beautiful, no doubt, but it's not home like the DMV is for me. Home, like love, is never great 100% of the time, but we know it’s what’s right for us and the people we share it with.  Through committing to Eastern Market and the DMV community, I feel like both myself and the people around me benefit. I also learned that creating a home means building a base that can facilitate positive impact in far away places. Selling coffee at Eastern Market, for example, allows us to continue our commitment to sourcing coffees at above market value prices from our friends in Latin America. The more I invest into my home base, the more I see the world open itself up to me. It’s like watering a plant and watching it grow. 

That night, I slept like a baby in my own bed for the first time in 3 months.