The First Sip of Tea in the Morning

In our house every day begins with a cup of tea- mine in a favorite mug, with honey and lemon. When thinking ahead I remember to put out two or three cups the evening before and toss a couple of teabags into ready position for the morning. My Lazy Susan is filled with tea options but our morning compliment is normally black tea-nothing fancy-and yes to caffeine. The three of us are all tea drinkers though my daughter has been known to stray into coffee shops.

Tea seems like a sacred drink with beautiful tea rituals in almost every culture. There is something wonderful about that first sip of tea in the morning-the warm goodness-the liquid sunshine - the taste of a new day. Honey adds a bit of sweetness and somehow softens the morning.

Lately, in my retirement I have decided to occasionally elevate the morning from the usual teabag to actually brewing some loose-leaf tea. I ponder if this is well worth the effort of gathering filtered water, measuring out tea leaves and then dealing with the cleanup of the tea leaf residue. Teabags are essentially effortless-but not so much loose-leaf tea. Making something special takes a bit of effort.

When planning a family barbeque on the beach, we considered picking up some pizza or sandwiches rather than bringing down a grill and charcoal and condiments and hotdogs and all of everything and dealing with the clean-up of such. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Wouldn’t sandwiches or pizza just make life easier? But my brother insisted that having fun takes work- perhaps insinuating that the effort put forth adds to the return - the more effort the greater return? I wondered when did making things easier became so popular? Cake mixes, take-out food, bottled water, garage door openers, coffee shops. They give us more time… for what?

Ahhhhh ….planning for a day at the beach -the chair, umbrella, cooler, towels, sunscreen -SAND-the marathon hike from the car to the shoreline, and back being even more of an uphill challenge! Wouldn’t it be easier to sit in the backyard? But once you arrive the sound of the sea, the salty air, the sand between your toes-even an occasional dolphin or whale swimming by. I guess it is worth all of that struggle- effort in - fun out. “Fun takes work.”

When is it that we push ourselves- when do we decide to exert that life-force energy-our chi-our prana- and hope for a worthwhile return? And if we don’t, when did we lose that? Do we each begin life with the same vital energy - because I think I may have been short-changed. Can an inner life be as rich and rewarding as an outer life or is it all about balance? I think today I will try to engage in life more fully- but first I need my cup of tea.