Tag: Chado

What is tea ceremony about?

It’s about making and drinking tea, and it’s not about tea at all. It’s about arranging flowers and preparing the tea room, or not. It’s about precision and doing things in order, I think. It’s about interaction of host and guest, maybe. It’s about harmony with the seasons, perhaps. Or letting go of …

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It is not a performance

Some people, especially at demonstrations, get the idea that Chanoyu is a performance. The host has set the stage and enters to perform a ritual with the guests as the audience.  In performance the emphasis and attention are all directed at the performer, while the audience is there to be entertained or to view the …

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Studying tea builds resilience

In serious study or training in anything you will have setbacks. What you dot with setbacks determines how resilient you are.  When things start out hard and get harder, what motivates you to hang in there and continue to practice?

What is resilience?

Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or …

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Things Chado has taught me, part 4

 

There are so many things I have learned from Chado that it is difficult to articulate them.  This post is the 4th of a series of things that Chado has taught me.  These are not necessarily what everyone learns from Chado, but I find my life is so much richer and meaningful because of …

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Talent, Passion, and Practice

People tell me that I have a talent for Chado.  But nobody is born being good at tea.  When people are good at something, we assume that they must have a talent for it. This is not necessarily the case.  We love to attribute success to talent.  When we look at successful or professional athletes, …

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