It’s all can be found in a cup of tea!

I love tea.

But I do not love it in a sense that I’m an expert of tea who know almost all things about tea. I love it for the process I must do to enjoy it, and the habit and wisdom I learn from it. To make it simple enough, I put it in a short list of note.

1. It makes me aware about the morning moment

The best time to drink tea is in the morning, they say. I don’t know whether it is true. But I do enjoy it at its best in the morning. Why? Because it makes me do something easy but serious as the on of the first thing to do after I wake up. Boiling water until the right temperature, preparing that small jug for brewing (I don’t know how to call it), and pouring the water to brew the tea for just enough time. A small but clear process I must pay attention too. It is a somewhat a good mental exercise for me, to reflect on how I would like to start the day.

2. Drinking tea is about patience

I need to prepare boiled water, but not over boiled, though. It has to be boiled water, not warm one, to invite the best flavor of tea. And yet, after I pour the water and let the tea brew, I need to wait until it is warm enough to drink. Again, it should not be too long. This teach me patience, to wait when the time is right to do something after the a ‘heating’ period. This also inspires me that there will always something good comes up after a brewing conflict. We just have to know when is the right moment to take a sip!

3. Sipping tea is about sipping every second of the ‘beyond words’ moment

What is the flavor of tea? I don’t know. But I know it is the flavor of tea. Those couple of minutes I spend for sipping the tea are ‘beyond words’ moment for me. It is a moment of experiencing something that is clear but not easy to describe, something that is ambiguous but yet very pertinent. Sipping a cup of tea is about enjoying something that feels like a combination of the warmth in the water, a hint of dried leaves aroma, and a soft bitterness mixed with a fresh sensation; and yet, the flavor is not just a summary of all of those. This inspire me to befriend ambiguity, and learn to appreciate the beauty of it.

All in all, the wisdom that keeps me alive throughout the day can be found in a cup of tea!