There are many benefits to green tea. Supposedly an anti-oxidant, cholesterol-busting power house. I loathe the stuff. It tastes like I imagine stewed grass to taste. But I do love the colour green, especially when the prairies are trapped in the depth of the latest polar vortex. Pre covid yours truly would bugger off to milder climes but for the past two years I've been feeling extremely sorry for myself. I sit on the couch and watch my waist get bigger and my mood plummet.
So, to cope I have been investing in small, local business around me and using retail therapy to cure my woes. But it's retail therapy of a plant nature - essentially instead of "going to the green" this Spring, I'm "buying the green". The cheery green teapot with succulent has lifted my mood magnificently... I may bankrupt us for the next month!
It's important to recognize what can lift our spirits during trying times. Perhaps it is a little bit of retail therapy, art, chatting on the phone, cuddling up on the couch with a wee dram at the end of the day etc. We are not meant to be on the run, pretending to be fine all of the time. We glorify the busy far too much and validate our lives through our calendars and to-do lists. One COVID silver lining (for those of us privileged enough to enjoy it) is the ability to slow down and sort out what is important and what can be left if not forgotten.
For those who are experiencing loss or so much busy-ness that life is one huge struggle, a bit of green is, admittedly, not going to make much difference. For these folks I hope we can recognize that the best gift is that of time and empathy. That people will find ways to return to the even keel or closer to it. Small increments of joy can find their way into the saddest of hearts if we simply hold the space for those who need time and energy to enter it. We can do this. We should do this. But we need to recognize that we cannot dictate what they will be like when the enter the space nor when they leave. Our role is to find our joy and meet theirs when they can.
“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.” Anne Lamotte,
Drinking green tea is good for you. So it being kind to yourself and others. Let's do it. Well, you can drink the green tea.