It says, “Keep calm and have a cup of tea.”
It’s good advice, I think.
I come from a long line of tea drinkers. It’s a running joke in my family that my mom firmly believes that a cup of tea will cure any and all ailments. Headache? Have a cup of tea. Stomach virus? Tea (and possibly toast). PMS? Tea. Overtired? Tea. Car accident? I’ll put the kettle on. Zombie apocalypse? You brew up some tea, I’ll gas up the chainsaws.
That’s how we roll.
Over time, I became more of a coffee drinker. (By “over time” I mean “when I was in college and sleep was a precious and rare commodity.) Coffee seems to say to me “Take charge of this day and make it do your bidding” in a way that tea does not. Coffee demands ACTION. Tea suggests coziness and snugglies.
Which is, I think, the point of the box. It was a gift from a friend because, you see, she knows about my mom’s all-purpose tea cure. And also, I think that she wanted to remind me that there should always be a space in your day to relax, to take a breath, and to do something that comforts you.
For me, that’s tea. For you? It might be something else entirely. But whatever it is, I think you – and me, and everyone – need to make room in your day for something that feeds your heart and soul. We spend so much time running and doing and working and making sure this and don’t forget that and I’m going to be late and I have another meeting after this one that we forget to allow ourselves to be. To simply be, now and again. There isn’t a lot of time or inclination for calm.
But there should be.
And if there’s no space for it out there? Out there in the world as it swirls around you?
Then maybe you need to make it in here, in your heart. Maybe if you start from that calm, centered place, then the hustle and bustle of every day existence won’t stress you out or make you forget how happy you are to be here, how lucky you are to have yet another day in this life.
So, find your calm.
And if it works for you? Have a cup of tea.
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