Most times we think of tea we focus on serving tea—either to ourselves or others, and, the experience is hopefully delicious. Usually the motivation is about drinking tea and if you are like me, it can be done pretty unconsciously because we’re multi-tasking in our busy lives.
Lana and I were talking in the Studio Saturday and I was struck by something she said that made me think of allowing tea to serve me instead. Being a devoted coffee-drinker-turned-tea-appreciator, Lana comes up with many observations about tea that I take for granted. Anyway, I think what she said was along the lines of “tea serves us in so many ways”.
Yes, Lana it does…and we have to allow it to do that.
- Tea serves to energize us with a bit of caffeine, while it also calms us with L-theanine
- It serves us by providing a calorie-free cup of antioxidants
- It serves us by bringing our attention to the present—to taste and smell our tea, and, to observe the beauty of the leaves
- It serves us by connecting us to history and to people on the other side of the world who have labored to bring us this beautifully crafted leaf
- It serves us by its complexity—providing a medium of conversation with people whom we might not otherwise have much in common (I’m especially thinking of teenagers here)
- It serves us with the creativity of blending different teas so we can make new taste experiences for ourselves—keeping tea-time interesting.
These are just a few ways that tea serves us and I’m sure you can think of many more. It just goes back to my initially discovery with tea: it’s an experience versus just a drink.