Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Wisdom on a String

After work yesterday I went to my favorite coffee shop to unwind, but this time I was not having coffee, I was having tea. As I have grown older and more frenzied and dehydrated from my coffee consumption, I have welcomed tea into my life as a soothing savior.

“A small Earl Grey please”, she handed it to me and before I took my favorite wicker seat, I decided to put milk in it. As I was milking and stirring I forgot what it was that I was just thinking about. The only thing left in my brain was the emotional residue from the lost memory. The only thing left was that I was excited for something in the near future, and yes I was happy for the onset of my tea drinking, but that was not it. I was happy to be sitting down after work in a quiet familiar place, but that was still not it.

Then I remembered. On the tea bag tags that are given out at this particular shop, there is always a quote. The brand of tea is Celestial Seasonings and they have painstakingly picked some wonderful quotes to put on the back of each tag, to encourage reflection, or maybe conversation. I love that idea.

I was anxiously awaiting the sage message on the tea bag last night. As I fussed with the milk and picked the cup up again to move to my seat, I made sure not to glimpse at the tag. Because I know myself and even a glimpse could give it away, if it was one I had seen before I would recognize the length and spacing at first blush.

I took my seat. I tried to drag out this little ceremony of enjoyment as long as I could. Then finally I looked. “Choose well. Your Choice is brief, yet endless.”-Goethe. So I plucked the tag off the string and placed it in my pocket, hoping that some of its wisdom would seep into me as I drank the tea.

On the brink of making so many decisions in my life, marriage, grad school, etc. it was a good quote to read, and the tea was damn good too.

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