Today I went with my friend Betty to a tea shop right near her house called
Souvia. I love that ever since I've started this blog, many people have come in very helpfully with tea suggestions, teas that they've sent me (or gift certificates to buy tea), or even, as in the case with Betty today, a lovely place to have tea together. I really, really love loose leaf green teas. Even when I finish this blog after the 90 days, I will probably have a lot of loose leaf greens lying around to enjoy - the flavour is just so incredible, and it manages to be light with a little caffeine (enough to get me started, but not too much to make me crash and burn later). So we came into this shop and I was thrilled not only with the selection of teas, but the comfy chairs, the tea samples you could try, the menu of teas to read through, and the whole atmosphere of tea.
We tried the two samples that were available (green chai and passion berry), and both of them were beautiful. But I was telling the lady there that I had tried one in Indiana called White Kiss And Tell, and she suggested this green called Angels Kiss, which includes papaya, pineapple, rose petals, and strawberries. It was amazing. It was probably the lightest green tea I've
ever had, and I think she said it was a blend of green and white tea, although I bought three or four different ones so I can't remember which one that applied to! I decided to have it iced, since it is nearly 100 degrees here in Phoenix today, and it was incredible. I generally like to have my tea hot, I feel like I get the flavour better that way, but this one was just perfect iced. It almost tasted like a white tea, and the various flavours mingled perfectly together so that you almost don't know what to say about it other than that it is incredible. I liked it so much I forgot to take a photo of the tea when I got it, so all I have now is a photo of an empty cup! But I intend to have plenty more, as I purchased 50g of the loose leaf to bring home with me. I like the name, Angels Kiss, since it seems to represent something rare and undefinable and memorable and amazing yet undescribable. That seems to work pretty well.
Betty and I had a lovely chat over our tea - two of my favourite topics, rest and beauty, came up. I'm passionate about both of them, but I can thank Betty today for saying something which pointed out to me how the two are connected. She has just retired (semi-retirement, since she hasn't stopped working altogether), and she said ever since she has had more time, she has started noticing beauty a bit more. Beauty in flowers, in the birds who visit her in the morning, in her vegetable garden. And I realised for the first time how these two favourite topics of mine, the ones I have taken notes on and journaled about and read about and want to write books on, are actually linked. It is really only when you are truly at rest that you can fully enjoy beauty. I encourage everyone to see beauty everywhere - but it is the rushed, the stressed, the exhausted who never see it, who pass by it without a first glance (much less a second one), who complain about heat or other drivers or lack of time or anything in their lives, and all the while there are flowers blooming and little girls dancing and suns setting and tea being poured out all around them, unnoticed.
So, I encourage you today to take some time to do nothing at all to the glory of God. Sit outside or inside or go for a walk or a run, but with no purpose at all. And give yourself a few moments to take in just a little bit of beauty. Because sometimes you don't have to walk for exercise or to lose weight; you don't have to sit down to 'do' something such as reading a book or even petting a cat. You can just do it, and let the rest seep into your soul. I know it feels impossible (especially so for my friends who have four or six or eight children, or who are working at a hospital, or taking care of someone who is unwell, or rushing, rushing, rushing). But there really is something deep within us which rebels against rest and beauty, and tells us that we HAVE to rush, we CAN'T slow down, not even for a moment. And yet even just a few minutes of that can open your eyes to beauty.
I'm not even walking today. I may go out later for no purpose at all, but I'm setting myself free from it today and just enjoying my tea, good conversation with a friend, reading out Bible verses and praying with my mother, reading books with my sister, or - imagine! - just sitting here.
Ahhhhhh.
This is a tea that I got at Souvia in the States, and I did something different and bought it solely on the basis of its name. I live in Britain, so I figured a green tea that included the word 'fog' would not only be applicable, but a perfect match for a wet or drizzly or gloomy or foggy evening.
Walk today was hard, but good...and right at the end I was running past a guy who was watching me come, and I thought 'ah, maybe here is some encouragement'. I was very near the end of my walk and usually I just walk the end, but I thought I'd push on and even run most of the end. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to do that, since I'd run a good portion of the rest as well. Unfortunately, all I got as he neared was, "You can go faster than that!" Of course, as we all know, the initial response is nothing, or something useless, and then when you get home you come up with all these brilliant returns that would make him feel like a fool. I don't know why I didn't think of, "So can you!", but I was pretty worn out, and that was a pretty discouraging thing to say.
On the other hand, it certainly stuck with me, and there have been days after this one that I thought about it and realised that although it wasn't true then, when he said it, there are times when it is true. I'll just take it for when I need it, and ignore it the others!
