Rhythms

This past weekend during a conversation with a dear friend of mine, she brought up the topic of rhythms. She wanted to bring rhythms into her daily life. A morning rhythm, nightly, weekly, even monthly and yearly. She spoke of a camp her family would go to every summer for a few years and how that memory, that once-a-year pause, was such a dear one in her mind. 

I began to think about the rhythm of my current days. I realized that I already have some rhythms, some little rituals that happen daily.  

Just being a tea drinker requires a particular rhythm and ritual.  First, I heat the water.  Then comes the choosing of the mug.  I have three usual suspects: my self-bought birthday mug from Barnes and Noble, my gift mug from Elia with the sappy friend message carved in, and the quick-pick classic household white. Next, I scoop the tea out from the Merry Mushrooms Genuine Stoneware tea canister  (circa 1978). I pour the boiling water in my mug and then I wait.

I do this every morning, every day. 

If I have a mid-day tea, the pause it creates in my life is a bit more salient. It's just me and my tea...no food to cook and everyone's usually out of the house. I'm able to sit and think, usually with pen and paper or an interesting article to read or a chapter to finish. And in between these rhythms of calm and warmth, life is lived - the mundane, the busy, the necessary.

I don't like to think about what life would be like without those daily moments of calm. In fact, I can't imagine it at all. My morning rhythm has become such a normal part of life, a needed repose before the unavoidable send-off. 

My intention for this fall, when the "busy" picks up, is to bring more rhythm to my days - more afternoon tea times with the kids, more after-supper walks. Rhythms like these, I think, bring a sense of peace and balance when life so easy feels like chaos-run-wild. 

I think we were created to desire and enjoy moments of bliss. So I want to make sure that, at some point in the day, everyday, there is a moment (or two) that is slower, quieter,  uninterrupted. And, for me anyways, tea is the perfect opportunity and companion for just those kinds of moments.

by Kristina Morris