Serenely alone, curled up with a book, and pot of tea. Striding through an office, coffee in hand, firing off comments to co-workers. Would the image be the same if the coffee and tea were switched? Where do we get our stereotypes of coffee and tea drinkers? American media, I suppose. Personality types and what we choose to represent us. What does my tea drinking say about me?
I finished a good non-fiction book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking By Susan Cain. Recommended by a friend, who knows my family is a bunch of introverts, it was worth checking out. It challenges cultural assumptions of what personality traits lead to success. Reserved leaders, humble performers, shy activists: they are more common than you think.
Like most people, I have both introvert and extrovert traits, but if I had to pick a camp- extrovert. I love the energy in a group of people, though observing is as fun as participating. I enjoy writing alone in a crowded cafe speaking to no one, as well as playing a board game with a group of strangers at a geeky convention. It can be hard to approach a new group, but once I do, I always can make a friend.
(Lil’ Buddha Teahouse is on the funky street in our city. My daughter and I spent an afternoon together. We bought some vintage clothes at a little shop. I hate shopping for clothes, but when there are only a few racks, and all of them are awesome, it makes it fun. I got a perty polka dot dress. We checked out old LPs at the record store, astounded at the covers and what was “cool” a few decades ago. 1970 “Country Hits in Spanish” was the star find for $1. Most of our time was chatting over tea. The Astek Chai was tasty toasty. I brought my knitting with me, and she brought a photography book to flip through. Happy memory from 2014!)
TeaPunk started when my daughter and I returned from a geeky convention that introduced us to steampunk. As lovers of tea, we knew there was a connection beyond just pretending to be proper English. We wanted to have a silly and fun take on tea. We made huge gulping tea mugs, sprayed it on our faces with home-made products, drew geeky tea art, and knitted amusing tea scarves, and sharing it with the world. Bringing the extrovert angle to the introvert beverage image. Of course, writing the blog is a solitary activity. And social media is in between: alone in an online crowd.
Introvert/Extrovert, Tea/Coffee, Weird or really, really Boring… they are just labels when we’re all on a spectrum, drinking whatever suits our fancy at the moment, connecting with people real or fictional, online or across the kitchen table. What does my tea drinking say about me? Whatever I want it to.
Rise unfettered.
Move with intention.
Be grand.
