Guys, April is awesome.
And not just because it’s my birth month, either. This is the month of true new beginnings, of stirring and opening and pale growth which will quickly darken to lushness. If you’ve been apprehensive about undertaking an education in tea, hesitate no longer!
SERIOUSLY FOOLS
Yeah, you heard me. We are all fools, you know, me just as much as you. You know this is true. You feel the same. You feel different. You see little strange details of your life. You are proud of what you learn. You can’t stop staring at people. You can’t stop staring at YouTube. You wonder what strangers’ lives are made of. You like to look up, down, & all around. Sometimes you skip down the street, and sometimes you trudge with eyes downast. You enjoy singing lustily in public or private. You want to make the best of what you were given, what you have, and what you will receive. Colors delight you. Fresh air, bright sun, warm grass. You belong in the desert, or the forest, or by the sea, or between the dizzying heights of skyscrapers in the heart of metropolis. You read under the covers with a flashlight. You lie in the middle of the road in the middle of the night just to see how it feels. You want to love life and live with everything you’ve got.
You are a fool.
Now that we’ve established that you do not need to take yourself too seriously,
I want you to forget everything.
Forget about your computer. Forget about your phone. Forget everything you know about tea.
I want you to start fresh, new, foolish. I want you to make mistakes and silly faces.
Let’s do it.
Tea Tip #2: Forget Everything
Don’t watch with your eyes or turn your head to listen, just fill your heart with Cha-no-yu [the way of tea].
– Sen RikyuTea is drunk to forget the din of the world.
–T’ien Yiheng
empty your mind
the buddhists say.
i say
don’t worry about what you’ve heard
about how difficult it is to brew tea
and how easy to screw it up.
go ahead, screw it up
it’s ok
i don’t mind
i just want you to get into it, man
be in the moment and experience
the dry leaves and
the hot water and
the exquisite sip.
i don’t want you
to have your phone or computer visible
at all
and god forbid the television is on
don’t even think about that one.
you might not even want to talk to anybody
just forget that there are other people in the world
forget that you yourself are a person
with bodily functions and tweets
and all that junk.
turn everything off except the kettle
and your attention upon your task
which is to enjoy a cup of tea.
happy day,
Paige
