Friday, February 4, 2011

Rituals, Centering and Connecting

One of the best things which has come out of our cancer journey is the presence of ritual in our lives. Every morning Meagan prepares our matcha tea (an incredibly powerful antioxident, and what is used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony - although our version is the medium grade, not the ultra expensive tea ceremony version). Using the right bamboo whisk is important and we joke each morning about the amount of froth which is developed through the mixing process (matcha is finely ground tea leaves, and you mix it with water - it is not steeped). We then drink it out of our special, authentic tea bowls our friend Dennis gave to us. It gives us an opportunity to share some time talking about the day ahead, the journey ahead,and what we are grateful for.  Then it's my turn - while she jumps onto Facebook and email - I make the special oatmeal, and serve it up and we share a meal together.

There is something about each of us making and offering to each other the tea and oatmeal that is powerful. It's supportive, an act of kindness, and sets the stage for an ability to connect. We laugh a lot about how much froth there is in the tea, and how we don't drink it properly according to Japanese ritual (or so we've been told). Or how filling the oatmeal is, particularly with the chia seeds. In our world of up and down news about the cancer, this act is very centering and grounding.

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