Good morning Tea Lifers, we welcome you back.
The inspiration for today is the comfort that comes with companionship. In many ways tea is like people, there are endless types, blends, ways to steep, taste and the list goes on.. Additionally great about it as well is that no two cups are ever the same even steeped from the same pot. People are not much different if you really think about it. Siblings from the same parent but different, even twins are not exactly the same. There are different types, people from different places, different personality types, different ways of thinking and the list goes on.. Like some tea doesn't really go together (for instance it would be kind of pointless to mix a oolong with a white and drink it. The oolong would completely take over and you cold not enjoy the benefit of the white because of the extreme differences) there are people that don't quite mix, as we all know. What I had to stop and think about over this past weekend was how well my wife and I mix or blend. I have always believed that she was and is the better part of me. She is everything that I could never be and she allows me to be the same for her. We get caught up in what we want sometimes like everyone else and that causes a bit of drama. At the end of it though, there is always that moment, that perfect moment when we both shed our selfish desires and remember why we love. Not love each other because that goes without question, love ourselves, we remember why we love ourselves. I realized this while talking and enjoying our afternoon tea that she had blended earlier that day. Absent of the details, we were discussing a disagreement the we had recently and the moment of resolution. It was like a instant moment that we made eye contact and we could almost feel how each other felt in that moment. We have moments like this all the time because she is my best friend and companion and so much more so we are really close. The realization came to me at that moment that, she had taught me to love the correct way. Not the conventional love like I love you cause we have history, or been together 12 years, or I love the lust I have for you and not the unconditional in sickness and health kind of love that we are often taught is the right kind of love. We are taught that Love is an action or declaration of selflessness in dedication to someone we care about.
The actual definition:
love
/ləv/
noun
1.
an intense feeling of deep affection.
"babies fill parents with intense feelings of love"synonyms:deep affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, intimacy, attachment, endearment;More
2. a person or thing that one loves.
"she was the love of his life"synonyms:beloved, loved one, love of one's life, dear, dearest, dear one, darling, sweetheart,sweet, angel, honey; More
1. feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone). "do you love me?"synonyms:care very much for, feel deep affection for, hold very dear, adore, think the world of,be devoted to, dote on, idolize, worship;
No, not this type of love. I realized that she had taught me to care about and love myself so much that I literally became part of something greater than myself. There are so many complexities to this if I tried to outline them all this would be a book. To simplify the best way I can, I realized to a greater extent how valuable her life, her peace and happiness are to me. Understanding to a greater measure that I am unable to be happy if she is not happy. Not in the sense that I don't possess my own happiness absent of her, but that it was necessary for me to know that I was choosing to be happy and in order for me to be happy she needed to be as well.
I shared the other day about a blend that I chose outside of my normal everyday blend, which I enjoyed a great deal. My wife created a blend that was exactly similar to that very blend with a few other delightful ingredients. I point this out because I am learning that syncricity in our relationship is not only key but it is natural and the flow has to be shared flawlessly between both parties. She had no idea that I had prepared the blend that I did in substitute of my daily blend. Yet she created the same thing but added her touch to it and made it better with a little more flavor and a little more life.
The funny thing is I she has always done that, take something good add a little of her and make it better. Take me for instance I'm great without her though, you throw a little bit of her in the mix and together we create great and beautiful things. I realized during that conversation that we were the same but different. We have all the same ingredients and she has a little something extra that makes her special. We have a natural and organic syncricity that I hadn't ever really paid attention to, I did at that moment! We mix or blend so well I never realized that we had come together to become something else like tea. Dry ingredients coupled with living water and a little heat create a beautiful beverage. I always see what she has extra that makes her special so she is and has always been amazing to me. I always see what she has that I don't and how that just makes us coming together that much greater. She never pays attention to what she is made of so her being exceptional is a simple normal to her. She looks at what we both have that makes us great and I think she is ok with being great with what we have in common. What I hope she realizes one day is that we are great because she has something extra that makes her special and that makes us great beyond what we have in common. Like the blends we put together were the same but different, so are we....! By the way her blend was better than mine.. =)
I am thankful to share the same ingredients as her and especially grateful for the ingredients that she has that I don't.
Thank You for being my tea time companion..... You know who you are!
I want to share with you the wonderful beauty I experience in my life because of her. Theses are the blends that we built as described. Note: How much more beautiful and lively she makes the same ingredients look, with a little something extra. (It is an addition of only two ingredients)
