Time for a New Brew? 🫖

We’ve all done it…I’m not the only one, right?

And then this morning before I sat down to write this post, 

I made my tea and hurried to my computer thinking, “I have to get this done before sweet Harper—our 10-week-old puppy—wakes from her nap.”

My schedule turned upside down over the last two weeks and everything work-related feels like a mad scramble between Harper’s training, potty breaks, and playtime.

Like for most new puppy parents…she sets the schedule right now, but I wouldn’t change any of it.

Because it’s only for a season, and she’s already growing too fast.

And yet, I miss my quiet mornings of tea, reflection, and reconnecting to myself and my dreams.

This morning, after a few sips of tea, I was still drawing a blank on an idea for this week’s newsletter.

Then I realized I hadn’t checked the “tea bag wisdom” I’ve come to appreciate over the years.

For you non-tea drinkers, it’s the paper label at the end of the tea bag’s string that displays the tea’s brand.

But the BEST tea brands, in my opinion, use it as an opportunity to invite tea drinkers to pause.

The words often inspire a new thought or simply slow my thinking enough to consider something other than the next task on my list.

Today’s words were a question:

“What can you appreciate in this moment?”

My first thought was, “I appreciate having this uninterrupted time to write.”

My next thought was, “Get going, Kim! You don’t have time to dawdle.”

Fortunately, my inner voice became louder than the voice in my head.

My True Self reminded me to pause and consider this question beyond the first couple of thoughts.

I paused…

I noticed the wide-open morning glories and the honey bees already busy gathering pollen…and wondered when they had last paused.

I closed my eyes, took three deep breaths, invited the silence to wash over me…and felt my heart rate slow.

Instead of unconsciously drinking my tea, I sipped and savored its earthy tones of cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom.

And as I placed my fingers on the keyboard to write…the idea for this newsletter formed.

My tea bag’s wisdom reminded me to pause again…to breathe, listen, and decide there were so many more things to appreciate in this moment.

Yes, I still had to write, edit, and schedule this email, but by pausing and surrendering a few minutes to consider what there was to appreciate, my brain relaxed…and the words flowed.

In this moment (and hopefully in the week ahead), I invite you to pause…

Be intentional.

Seek life’s beautiful and surprising elements by using your awareness.

What can you appreciate in this moment?

For me? I’m grateful for the sweet sounds of a puppy waking and asking to play.