Kitchen Must Haves: Tea

In college, my best friend taught me how to really breathe. She would always encourage me to take time for myself. She would joke that I was purposefully trying to shed my Cali skin for the other coast. One of the things she gave me to help slow down was tea. When I would go chill with her, she would always offer me tea. I assumed it was a couple of things: (1) bougie people stuff and (2) an African thing. Growing up, my Stepdad (who is Nigerian) would always have tea in the morning and make enough to offer the numerous guests who popped by for a daily visit. Before him, tea and coffee weren’t staples in my home...you go out and enjoy that, if you needed it. Also in college and grad school, a good number of my international and first-generation friends all enjoyed their teas from time-to-time. Though I was right about it being a cultural thing, I was wrong in my assumption of my friend’s reason for offering it.

Drinking tea was her way of giving herself a moment. It helped her clear her head and think through her next steps. It was her moment in a long day of moments. She was able to breathe and she taught me the same. It is a skill I am deeply grateful for. During grad school, I was always on the go. If it wasn’t for class or my internship, then it was one of two or three jobs I had or catching up with friends for a brief moment, but mornings were my moment.

It was my time to breathe before I stepped out the door and proceeded to try to save some small part of the world. It was an opportunity for me to really think about the intention I had for myself that day. I really enjoyed it! I started to have tea almost everyday, sometimes twice a day. Then I learned some other things you can do with tea: facial steams, foot soak, or for my Pisces folk, all over the body options  

See?! Now go get you some tea-- be it loose leaf of bagged. Take your moment and just breathe…

Happy Livin Y’all :)