I’ve had this tea for awhile, unopened. I was saving it for a special occasion, which wasn’t planned, but ended up being today.
The side-effects associated with migraine and fibromyalgia take over from time to time, and there’s not much I can do about it. Sleeplessness and depression are the two symptoms that I’m glad to get over with the fastest. Physical pain is easy to handle by comparison.
Today I woke up and reached for my Kindle Fire next to the bed. My daughter had a new entry on Facebook with a link to her blog that began with this quote:
“Stand at the brink of the abyss of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it anymore, draw back a little and have a cup of tea” ~Elder Sophrony of Essex
Then she went on to quote me (shock):
My mother reminds me often that tea has a way of keeping you in the moment. It’s not like coffee which in our society is meant to keep you always moving forward.
Tea encourages the partaker to sit down and rest a moment. It is a sort of “reset” button for the weary.
If we push ourselves beyond what we can bear for the sake of being strong, we will fall over, teacup and all, and find staring up from the darkness of the abyss… far more terrifying than standing at the brink.
(Hum, I thought…something from an Elder (Monk) and my daughter to think about in the middle of my depression, and I went about my morning…considering those words from time to time.)
At about 4PM, I couldn’t figure out where the time had gone. I felt foggy headed and the depression had closed in on me.
I remembered the quote from the Elder (Monk) and went to my tea cupboard…rummaging about until I found the one unopened SPECIAL OCCASION tea that I had left.
Standing on the edge of the cliff as I was, seemed a great time for Hand Picked Spring Tieguanyin!
Without a care for the opinion of others, I smelled the leaves. They reminded me of the many years of art classes, the sweet scent of oil paint on my brushes and canvas (and on me).
When I rinsed the leaves, I was washing the gloom away with tea liquor like a new ritual, washing my hands and face with it’s pale perfume.
Each leaf was so dark I wouldn’t imagine it had seen more than the most gentle rays of sunshine.
I drank the tea.
Beautiful, delicate orchid, cool spearmint like a pool of mountain water…honey cream…that made me sit in another moment different than the one I had been in before.
Drinking the tea, I drew back from the ledge and the sadness was interrupted.
Through cups and cups, I continued to let the tea lift my spirit.
(Not only through the way natural chemicals in tea helps the brain, but through the exceptional flavor of this particular tea.)
Time and again, tea has come to my aid when my body gets the best of me.
I’m feeling…better!
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Bonnie, I have said many times that the smell of many oolongs reminds me of paint. You expressed it much more elegantly! I even asked at a tea shop if there was a special word for what I was smelling, but they didn’t have an answer for me. Strong vanilla and paint but as a super addicting smell, that is what I get, so I just call it oolong smell now.
Thank you for this beautiful note, Bonnie. I always have difficulty describing the oolong smell too and your description is lovely.
Whew! I’m not crazy! I have company!
Or we’re all crazy…..! :D
Tea is comfort!! I’m glad you’re feeling better now, paint smell and all xo
Thank you xxoo
lovely and well spoken…seems to be a hallmark of yours…it wasn’t till you wrote it that it occurred to me the ‘paint’ aroma is terpeniod (like the scent of linseed oil and turpentine that has built up on a paint rag and imbued it)….thought the wiki notation was science nerdy and might be interesting to share :
The terpenoids (pron.: /ˈtɜrpɨnɔɪd/ TUR-pə-noyd), sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in functional groups but also in their basic carbon skeletons. These lipids can be found in all classes of living things, and are the largest group of natural products.
Plant terpenoids are used extensively for their aromatic qualities. They play a role in traditional herbal remedies and are under investigation for antibacterial, antineoplastic, and other pharmaceutical functions. Terpenoids contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, the yellow color in sunflowers, and the red color in tomatoes.1 Well-known terpenoids include citral, menthol, camphor, salvinorin A in the plant Salvia divinorum, and the cannabinoids found in Cannabis.
But yeah…I do pick that up and I guess my strong association with oil painting kept it from view until you said that…
Instinct backed up by science. How interesting and kind of you to share Kashyap! The very thing that I was describing (fibromyalgia) that makes me ill is also what has gifted me with heightened sense of taste and smell. (I’ll admit it’s annoying at times having to keep my environment balanced by temperature,noise,light,scent or I get sick which is why my adventures are well-designed). I quite like the smell of terpenoids.
Bonnie, I have said many times that the smell of many oolongs reminds me of paint. You expressed it much more elegantly! I even asked at a tea shop if there was a special word for what I was smelling, but they didn’t have an answer for me. Strong vanilla and paint but as a super addicting smell, that is what I get, so I just call it oolong smell now.
Thank you for this beautiful note, Bonnie. I always have difficulty describing the oolong smell too and your description is lovely.
Whew! I’m not crazy! I have company!
Or we’re all crazy…..! :D
Tea is comfort!! I’m glad you’re feeling better now, paint smell and all xo
Thank you xxoo
lovely and well spoken…seems to be a hallmark of yours…it wasn’t till you wrote it that it occurred to me the ‘paint’ aroma is terpeniod (like the scent of linseed oil and turpentine that has built up on a paint rag and imbued it)….thought the wiki notation was science nerdy and might be interesting to share :
The terpenoids (pron.: /ˈtɜrpɨnɔɪd/ TUR-pə-noyd), sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in functional groups but also in their basic carbon skeletons. These lipids can be found in all classes of living things, and are the largest group of natural products.
Plant terpenoids are used extensively for their aromatic qualities. They play a role in traditional herbal remedies and are under investigation for antibacterial, antineoplastic, and other pharmaceutical functions. Terpenoids contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, the yellow color in sunflowers, and the red color in tomatoes.1 Well-known terpenoids include citral, menthol, camphor, salvinorin A in the plant Salvia divinorum, and the cannabinoids found in Cannabis.
But yeah…I do pick that up and I guess my strong association with oil painting kept it from view until you said that…
Instinct backed up by science. How interesting and kind of you to share Kashyap! The very thing that I was describing (fibromyalgia) that makes me ill is also what has gifted me with heightened sense of taste and smell. (I’ll admit it’s annoying at times having to keep my environment balanced by temperature,noise,light,scent or I get sick which is why my adventures are well-designed). I quite like the smell of terpenoids.