Inspiration in a Tea Cup

My tea cups aren't as pretty as this -- actually, all of mine are mugs -- but I get a lot of inspiration out of them. Tea is a big part of my life, thanks to books from my childhood. P.L. Travers wrote about tea in her Mary Poppins novels, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's father was always drinking it in the Little House books. Alice in Wonderland had that wild Mad Hatter tea party, which still is my favorite part of that story.

When I grew older I read about it in Jane Austen's novels, where it always seemed to be part of the setting, but also helped with the action:

"Mr. Woodhouse was soon ready for his tea; and when he had drank his tea he was quite ready to go home" -- Emma

"Mr. Tilney drank tea with us, and I always thought him a great addition" -- Northanger Abbey

"some of them did decide on going in quest of tea" -- Persuasion

"When the tea-things were removed, and the card-tables placed" -- Pride and Prejudice

In books tea brought people together to visit, talk and share stories. It seemed to me an exotic and elegant part of life. For as long as I can remember I wanted a real silver tea pot, and a tea cart, and dozens of porcelain cups, so I could stop everything at four in the afternoon to drink some. I longed for sugar in lumps, real cream, real lemon and all those marvelous little cakes that went with it.

A few people in my family drank tea, but it was no big deal to them. No rituals were involved, either. During winter months when the weather was chilly, my diehard coffee-drinking mom would serve hot tea with the meal to help warm up everyone. Those were the days when no one had central heat (or air conditioning, for that matter) in South Florida -- and since we only had three or four cold days every year, I didn't get tea often.

Once I reached adulthood and got out of the house I brought tea into my daily life. I stuck to good old Lipton at first, and then I began cautiously trying other varieties. I discovered Twinings had an Irish Breakfast Tea that woke me up better than coffee, but with my insomnia I couldn't drink it at night. Celestial Seasonings had all those cute, colorful boxes of various teas that promised no caffeine, so I tried a few of those and discovered how much I really loved herbal brews.

I've gone through literally hundreds of types and brands of tea since those days. I especially love blends with chamomile and lavender, and anything with cinnamon, ginger or peach in it. In forty years I've found only two varieties that I can't drink: that foamy green tea the Japanese favor in their ceremonies (way too bitter) and Earl Grey (tastes like perfume to me.) I think that qualifies me as a genuine tea-lover.

How tea contributes to my work is in how it became part of my process. For me tea and writing just naturally go together; I'll often make a pot before I sit down for a writing session. It's soothing, fragrant and seems to shift me into a more creative mode. I feel I am at my best when I'm drinking tea -- more thoughtful, less in a hurry, and more in tune with my senses. The experience of drinking tea prompts me to take my time and enjoy what I'm doing, and feel good about it. Sounds weird, but I even think I'm a better writer because of tea.

It's no surprise that tea often shows up in my work, either. Like me, Cherijo from StarDoc was a tea addict. I often worked in little mentions of my favorite brews through that series (often the one I was drinking while writing that particular scene.) In fact you'd be hard-pressed to find a book I've written than doesn't have tea in it somewhere.

I've given up the dream of having a silver tea pot and tea cart, and to be honest I prefer sturdy mugs more than delicate little cups. I'll never stop drinking tea, however. For me there's inspiration in every pot I brew.

Image by Terri Cnudde from Pixabay