Tea & Storytelling
In connection with Women's Her-Story month, we would like to begin a new way to share community and seasonal wisdom with you. This is the first blog post featuring a story from a friend, mother & fellow tea sipper. Thank you for joining us!
Happy Vernal Equinox!
Transitions, seasonal and life, have traditionally been sticky situations for myself and my children. Some transitions, like fall to winter, are clear cut in my household. When the time changes and the first snowflakes begin to salt the skies (usually close after Halloween here in Ohio) we become ghosts. My close friends laugh at this hibernation I embrace because they know I will reappear at the Vernal Equinox ready to build the internal fire and investigate all the goings-on of the past 5 or so months. This type of transition is one I fully and completely engage in. Other transitions, not so much.
For example, teenagers! My oldest, Colton, is now 13 and although he continues to be the kindest, most intuitive person I’ve ever met... there are little things that, almost on a daily basis, throw me for a loop. For the last couple of months he has wanted, no, NEEDED (his words, not mine) a reason to get out of bed for school each morning. Now that the mornings are dark again I can completely relate to the craving for something warm, nurturing and delicious first thing each morning.
Enter Natalie to save this momma from teenager transition hell! Also, we have made it to work/school on time thanks to Colton’s discovery of Gnat and Bee’s caffeinated Forest Berry blend. Each school morning he gets up, puts an obscenely large amount of this fruity, rich dried tea into a strainer and patiently waits for the water to boil. He is typically silent during this boiling/brewing time; a relief for me while I attempt to gather myself for the upcoming work day. I don’t know what that teenage mind is thinking during this time and I am not inclined to ask him. Boiling and Brewing Tea has become both a verb and a proper noun in this household. We have created a ritual that is to be honored and protected and Natalie has been an integral part of that.
Colton and I encourage you to make some allowances when it comes to transitions this Spring. In what ways can you incorporate ritual, graciousness and silence into your days as they become busier, longer, and perhaps more stressful?
Colton’s favorite tea blends for Spring:
Forest Berry
Lavender Earl Grey
Awaken
Love, Patience and Peace to you all during transitional times!
-Sheri C. (she/her)
Storytelling is the key to the past, present and future of herbalism. Please email me or use our contact form here if you have a story, ritual or recipe you'd like to share, so that we can all contribute and connect. Submissions will never be shared without permission.
- Natalie of Gnat and Bee
natalie@gnatandbee.com
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