tea party — Episodes

“Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.”
― Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea

Welcome back to another micro-episode with Anne & Amy.

Here, we sit down to talk about the ideas, possibilities & avenues for Thought & Action that got sparked inside our last conversation with Guisepi Spadafora, of the lovely Free Tea Bus.

Ways to take things from the realm of Inspiration and move it into Perspiration. Actualized. Embodied. LIVED.

So we sat - Anne & I - at our respective homes, with our respective cups of tea - and shared tools, ideas & resources on how We - She. I. You. US. - can do the work of creating a wealth of Social Capital inside our world.

Or rather, how we can create containers for non-monetary exchange wherein everyone involved leaves feeling nourished, tended & cared for. We've got some ideas of our own (a very finite list, at best). But we'd love to hear from you!!! Take a minute to drop us a line @ mendpodcast@gmail.com and share your own ideas and thoughts!!!

And make sure to check out the short list of resources and links in the show notes below.

Cheers.

A Simple cup of Tea with Guisepi Spadafora

"...There is no problem on Earth that can't be ameliorated by a hot bath and a cup of tea.”
― Jasper Fforde

Imagine walking down a crowded busy street, your eyes buried in your cell phone and the unsettling news of the day. Scrolling through FB posts, belaboring one obstinate opinion over another.

Your thoughts percolating with lists of To-Dos.

People pass you, bumping shoulders without making eye contact.

When you hear the whistle of a tea kettle…

You look up to see the warm wooden interior of a white mini-bus and a sign that reads, FREE TEA

Inside is the thing you most need right now, something you haven’t had all day, or maybe even all week:

Genuine human interaction, absent of monetary incentives.

A place to sit with others you’ve never met and make connections you never considered. A man named Guisepi pouring tea for whomever enters, a man who knows RELATIONSHIPS to be of the highest value and speaks on the importance and necessity of a relationship-based economy. Your feet, moved by a desire so innate you can’t name it, carry you to the threshold.

You enter.

Welcome to Edna Lu and the Free Tea Party.