Ruminating On Rumi

As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears.

~ M. Rumi

Friday, June 3, 2011

What's In An Old Teapot - Freshly Brewed Tea

What is the charm of this old teapot?  This familiar style of teapot perhaps evokes memories of grandma's teapot. Or perhaps we see the bright, sunny yellow colour as uplifting. Maybe it's the emanation of heat, on a cold winter's day, when hands wrapped around it waited for the tea to steep. Or maybe you remember opening the lid to check on the tea, steam wafts out with the smell of freshly brewed tea, the bergamot of Earl Grey, the chamomile smell of Sleepy Time Tea...

What charms my senses is the beautiful lines in the teapot that only come with use. It is the lines that tell us of its age, well used, well loved. This is what beckoned to me in the thrift store. Often, i think about where a thrift store find came from. There are no chips in the spout or in the lid and it suggests mindfulness in its use. Perhaps, this tea drinker loved to have friends join her for a sip of tea. Maybe she served home baked cookies and dainty sandwiches. Maybe the contents of the teapot comforted her, uncomfortable in pregnancy or up late with a sick child. And why did the loved teapot end up in the thrift store? Perhaps the owner died and her grandchildren saw it only as Grandma's old teapot. It is that; it is also a receptacle that served and brought comfort.
The lines upon its beautiful shape are not unlike the wrinkles and lines on my face as i grow older. How i choose to grow my wrinkles, with laughter or frowns, is up to me. i want to wear my lines knowing that they grew from being well loved and loving well. 

i lift my cup and sip to loving what is and who we are, wrinkles and all. 

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