Always does the trick

When you feel things are not going your way, or you are exhausted of your everyday life, do you have somewhere you can go to hide away until you are back to your “normal” self?

 

Until a few years ago, I did not have one. I did not know how beneficial it would be to me, so I never thought of getting one. I figured, if life got hard, I would simply work harder to get through. I often got wounded and scarred, but eventually I did get through, so it never occurred to me to seek a hide-away just for myself.

 

But when I started to take lessons in the traditional art of tea of my culture a few years ago, the bowl of tea and sweets, the room, the atmosphere, the philosophy… the overall experience quickly became my very own hide-away. It takes me to a different universe, where time lapses at a different speed and changes the way I sense the world around me. I would not say it is spiritual, as some would, but nonetheless very sanctifying for me. Ever since I picked it up, and even after discontinuing the lessons, it always does the trick to get me back to my “normal” self!

 

So now, whenever life gets hard, no matter how little time I have I seek tea to fly off to my own little place for hide-away. And life got hard on me the past week, so would you not say it was inevitable that I sought tea this weekend?

 

Well, this is where the doorway to my hide-away was today:

 

Tea services on closed-off roads in the middle of the town, for free!

 

A special service by performers of another traditional art

 

And look what I found – my hide-away come true!

 

The artwork that won the grand prize for tea room design in a competition for students majoring in architecture (the technique used here to assemble wood parts into lattice work without using any nails or other connectors is also a traditional art of my culture)

 

Maybe some will say that hiding away is not the solution.

Maybe they will tell you that it is a sign of your weakness.

Maybe they are right, if you hide away forever in fear of facing hardships.

 

But maybe it is all right to hide away while you heal the wounds and let the scars fade.

And maybe if you can find a hide-away that will always do the trick, it will become a source of your strength.

 

I was almost taken to a couple of other worlds, but I am all refreshed and replenished and back to my “normal” self after today’s experience. Once again, tea has done the trick for me… what do you suppose it will entail tomorrow?

 

Here is a hint:

 

The treat I had with a bowl of tea today, “brilliant mountain” (the sun represented by the yellow colouring on the far side, and the stars shining in the sky on the near side, light up the mountain foliage turning colours in autumn represented by the rainbow running through the middle… a bit too conceptual for the cranium, but very yummy for the tummy!)