Time to Break Open the Bubbly!
The 4th of December is our anniversary, the fifteenth anniversary of The St. James Tearoom.
For fifteen years I have been continually amazed. The more of our guests I am privileged to become acquainted with, the more I am astonished – a delightful conundrum! Often when we ask ourselves “why” it is because of something negative, but my question is asked with pleasure and surprise: “How is it that we attract the most interesting, the most creative, the most fun, the most wonderful guests??”
This is a question I really do ask myself. And the more of our guests I get to know, the more I ask it.
…I wonder if it isn’t like a marriage. Certain types attract. Some people just face the same direction in life. One can only walk with a person who is facing the same direction. And we all need a companion to walk the path alongside us. The direction is a part of the attraction.
I have a theory. I think those the tearoom is attracted to and also attracts are the ones who care about the heart and the soul, who care about human flourishing. For the tearoom is all about human flourishing. We appreciate beauty; we think civility and gentleness are wonderful things. We hope to nourish relationships, feed the soul as well as the body, offer a feast for the heart as well as the eyes. And so we attract like-minded people, those who notice and value and practice such things. Our aspirations are Grace, Civility, Beauty, Gentility, and Excellence, and somehow we are able to find others of like mind. What a delightful state of affairs!
We are also all about fun and creativity. We love, love to be creative! We love to play ‘dress-up’ and explore other, magical times and places, go back in time to enter that world. We love books and stories. We love availing ourselves of our imaginations. We love to have FUN. How great to find others of like mind, who face the same direction!
Since the Enlightenment western culture has tended more towards the left brain and Reason, and has often neglected hearts and souls. We have been thinking more like machines, sometimes losing sight of what it is that makes us human. Our brains were not designed with only one side; there is a left brain and a right brain. Albert Einstein stated that:
“The imagination is more important than knowledge.”
We are all about imagination, and somehow are able to find those rare jewels, those who use their imaginations compellingly, gifting those around them.
…How well I remember our dear Michele reserving the entire tearoom parlor so many years ago for a book signing of her very first book published, a story about faeries, elves, and goblins, (now an enchanting series). And Michele is a fabulous teacher of mathematics. Talk about left-brain right-brain! Talk about using imagination compellingly and gifting others!
We are also about relationship and sharing, and somehow we find others of like mind.
…How well I remember sitting in the gazebo thirteen or fourteen years ago with Pati, a frequent guest, and listening to her say, “You need a website. I will create one for you, and be your web mistress, just for the joy of it.” Can you believe it? Did you know there were people like this??? (…being totally ignorant at that time, I said, “What is a website?”) Amazing woman! Besides being a computer whiz, Pati is the author who has created the tearoom mysteries we all are enjoying, along with historical fiction and romance. She is a musician. Computer whiz, author, musician…. Talk about left-brain right-brain! Talk about human flourishing and gifting others with tools for it! How we have been gifted!
“Reason is the natural organ of truth, but imagination is the organ of meaning.” C.S. Lewis
We, the St. James Tearoom and our guests, delight in imagination, and thus find great meaning. We love to see human flourishing, and have been flourished. As we surprise and delight our guests, we are surprised and delighted in turn. What a lovely thing, a beautiful give and take, back and forth, left-brain right-brain, gifting and growing together.
A handsome thing, indeed. Let’s break out the bubbly and celebrate!
Yours for the return of Grace, Civility, Beauty, Gentility, and Excellence,
Mary Alice
