Tea Party for One

Last year I got pretty sick, mentally and physically. I was always tired and stressed out. I had been for some years actually - I was an all or nothing kinda person. If I did the dishes I did them fast, furiously so that then, they would be done, and then I could relax. But then there would be the bathroom, the laundry, the floors. Let's face it housecleaning never stops. You have to decide when to stop. At work, when starting a new job, I did things fast, I rushed hoping to prove I would prove my efficiency and worth. I had to re-train myself to do things slower. Everything slower- I told myself 'One third slower'. I had to really focus on slowing down my hands movements when scrubbing the pots or washing my hands in the bathroom at work - giving myself time to breath deeply. If you don't go slow in the moment, the rest and slow time, that you promise yourself for later, never comes. Because you set the standard, and the standard is fast.

I was given a 'tea set' for Christmas from my Mother in Law. I love  it. I love the egg shell pastel blue of the tea pot, and cups. What I love most about it is that when I decide to have a cup of 'proper' tea (loose leaf - the only  tea worth drinking if you ask my mother) it is a real little treat. It is a little ritual. You can't just bung a bag in a cup and pour in hot water, you need to preheat the teapot a little, chose which tea you are going to enjoy (I was also given a variety of small containers of tea), measure out the leaves, and choose between a spotty cup or the cup and saucer. (These cups by the way are not used for 'normal' teabag cups of tea - oh deary me no! They are reserved for this special wee pot of tea.)

The Japanese have a much longer and more significant tea ceremony. Which is all about treasuring the small things, the everyday things, and living in the here and now.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony is called Chanoyu, Sado or simply Ocha in Japanese. It is a choreographic ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea, called Matcha, together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the bitter taste of the tea. Preparing tea in this ceremony means pouring all one's attention into the predefined movements. The whole process is not about drinking tea, but is about aesthetics, preparing a bowl of tea from one's heart. The host of the ceremony always considers the guests with every movement and gesture. Even the placement of the tea utensils is considered from the guests view point (angle), especially the main guests called the Shokyaku.

Of course these ceremonies focus a lot more on social aspects. The 4 principles behind the ceremonies being:

 harmony, respect, purity,and tranquility (wa, kae, sae, jubuo)

• harmony: with other people and with nature.  the tea ceremony is the way of bringing one’s self into harmony with nature.
• respects: a harmonious relationship with others. 
• purity: clean yourselves through the five senses - sense of hearing when hearing the sound of water(which remind one of the silence outside), sense of sight when see the flowers, sense of touch when touch the utensils, sense of smell when smell the scent of the flowers, sense of taste when drinking tea.
• tranquility

But in our society, to feel a little special, to create a little space of downtime, and stillness why not have tea for one (or two).