“Eat this! It’ll put hair hair on your chest!” was a favorite saying of my dad to his two daughters whenever he wanted us to try something strong tasting- usually an Italian cheese, or concoction from the juicer. Russian Caravan tea is bold flavor.
This morning I had excellent, locally-made sausage with fermented kraut and spicy mustard. I needed a tea to balance out those flavors- a tea that could hold it’s own: Russian Caravan (with a wee bit of sugar and cream.) A breakfast for champions!
Breakfast is my favorite meal, and I like it hefty. Morning is my time when I feel energized, and balanced (literally. I can only do certain standing yoga poses in the morning.) This is when I can be the most productive, so I try to get my thinking work done.
Life, however, does not always allow me to choose my schedule. I have been the taxi driver for my children, and will continue to be until my youngest gets his license (permit test this week!) And although I am my own boss, my work involves other people and their time constraints.
Balancing needs with responsibilities is a constant challenge. In yoga, a good practice involves doing poses and then the counter-poses. They can’t be done at the same time! Every day of my week has a different schedule, but I try to keep my week somewhat even with structure vs. flexible time, social vs. quiet activities, physical vs mental work. Yet, despite my planning, there’s always something that wonks it up!
Short-term projects (like my son’s theater production) mean weeks of non-stop driving around. So I look at the longer view. Did we just have a crazy, busy month? Can I say “no” to activities for next month to let us decompress? Sickness means lots of cancelations. Downtime is good for healing, but then we have to catch up. Seasonal shifts mean being open to altering events (big change), to doing different exercises (small change.) That’s looking at balance over a year.
Long term and short term thoughts. Twenty years is long. I have spent the past twenty years caring for my children with the majority of my time. Very early on, I read this poem by Peggy O’Mara:
I try to imagine that life will balance it all out. What will I do for the next twenty years? Time will tell. In the meanwhile, pairing food with the perfect tea is short-term fun. Life: it’ll put hair on your chest!
PS: I wrote a post on GeekMom about the first time I tried Russian Caravan Tea:
Russian Caravan Fantasy
Rise untethered.
Move with intention.
Be grand.
