I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I hunger for. What is it that I’m longing for, that I’m homesick for? What is always in my mind as a need unfulfilled?
Something that comes back to me again and again is beauty. I need those bits of beauty in daily life. Sometimes it’s a vase of flowers on a table, sometimes it’s tea, sometimes it is something I don’t anticipate, but relish when it arrives unbidden.
But I’ve realized I’m always on the hunt.
For reasons I don’t fully understand, these bits of beauty seem more scarce where I live. There is no restaurant in my town that has fresh flowers sitting on the table, like this Oklahoma City restaurant did. Yet, our city has a profusion of blooms in the medians downtown – just gorgeous.
But for some reason, I need beauty in this more personal way, up close, where I can experience them intensely – the flowers where I can touch them, not just see them. I need to enjoy them on more than one level.
That’s part of what I love about tea. It’s beauty on multiple levels. And I get to experience it, not just observe it. As my friend, Jesse, pointed out, we find the divine in beauty. Why not experience it?
Is this a flaw in my personality? Perhaps. After all, maybe I am the only one who needs this. Then again, maybe it is something we all need but that no one has given voice to yet.
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