A lot of people think of afternoon tea as a pleasant little extra, a delightful thing to do if you have the luxury of an idle hour on your hands. I would like to suggest that taking tea together is a significant means of building good into the world and especially into those around us.

In all of life, aren’t people actually the most important?

Timeless, crucial, and meaningful relationships can be cultivated through the gentle gift of a cup of tea. Here are 5 things taking tea does to help you when it comes to building relationships in your own life.

Tea Provides Sanctuary

A sanctuary is a sheltered and safe place, a place where a person can let down their guard and relax. Taking tea creates that for someone else. It allows someone to blubber. It grants them the freedom to chatter about hundreds of things, and it gives someone the space and time to think deeply about life. What a gift to offer another person through the little space of sanctuary that tea provides!

Tea Bestows Memories

Creating new memories with someone else is a lasting gift of grace. “People will forget what you say, and they will forget what you do, but no one will ever forget how you make them feel.” Think of each cup of tea as a cherished memory. People will forget what they talked about with you, and they will forget what tea you served, but they will never forget feeling valued for a lifetime.

Tea Builds Beauty

Beauty is not superfluous! It is requisite to human flourishing. A gift of beauty can be one way to provide comfort to someone. Bringing out the beautiful china or adding a table runner for an extravagant teatime can nourish the soul of another. Tea itself is pleasing to the eye and especially lovely when presented in a porcelain teacup or a mug that brings someone joy. Beauty takes care of others and shapes the small details according to the person or the occasion, making the time special and allowing the relationship to flourish.

Tea Nurtures Connection

One can only go so far on shallow relationships. Science has proven that humans need at least a few deep connections with other humans to thrive. If we do not have them, we wither and cannot grow. Taking tea with another person provides the time necessary to deepen connections—a pleasant little window in the day but so important for creating and strengthening bonds of unity.

Tea Celebrates Together

Celebration is absolutely necessary for a flourishing life! When we choose to celebrate, we memorialize important moments with joy and face life on our tiptoes with eyes sparkling. Taking tea is taking notice of those moments; when we neglect them, we must trudge on…and the road is long. Celebration insists that life is worth living, even in the face of setbacks and obstacles; and it shows that we are glad we can live life with those around us. When we celebrate, we commemorate life, victory, and purpose. What better way to do that than over a cup of tea?

It is so important to find little pauses in life to be still and to breathe. Taking tea can help you pay attention to the most important people in your life, and it can be wonderfully extravagant!

But all you really need are two cups, someone to love on, and a moment of time to provide a little window for gentle influence in the life of another. Who might you take tea with today?

Yours for the return of Grace, Civility, Beauty, Gentility, and Excellence,

Mary Alice