Green tea and Inspiration

I had tea with the truly lovely Dr. Sherri Magee at South Granville's T Tasting Boutique. It was a treat to visit with her as I greatly admire Dr. Sherri's amazing work helping cancer survivors with the emotional recovery process port treatment.

"Many survivors speak of feeling fragmented and needing to pick up the pieces of their lives once treatment for cancer is finished. Exhausted, overwhelmed with fears of recurrence, struggling to manage the side effects of treatment, and trying to make sense of the experience, survivors feel as if they have been ‘dropped into a void’, unsure of how to navigate through the recovery process. While the focus of treatment is on eliminating the disease, the recovery phase is centered upon healing the whole person. But no guideline exists for how to make it through this period, there is no bridge from hospital to home."


Dr. Sherri does a workshop that helps cancer survivors move from this fragmentation towards living the life they want to live. She is also the co-author of the book Picking Up the Pieces: Moving Forward After Surviving Cancer. Recommended reading for anyone who is finishing cancer treatment and on their way to a "new normal".




I brought Dr. Sherri one of my recent pieces from the "Texture and Variations" series that she had spotted on the Studio V Open House invite last December. The artwork is created from salvaged and recycled wood discarded at building sites and so it has that nice ancient treasure/modern relic look that I love. As I sipped the aromatic Pear Tree Green tea blend and conversed, I felt that I was experiencing a very serendipitous meeting indeed.

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"In my own hands I hold a bowl of tea; I see all of nature represented in its green color.
Closing my eyes, I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart.
Silently, sitting alone, drinking tea, I can feel these become part of me.
Sharing this bowl of tea with others, they too, become one with it and with nature.
That we can find a lasting tranquility in our own selves in company with each other is the paradox that is the Way of Tea."

"The frenzied world and our myriad dilemmas leave our bodies and minds exhausted. It is then that we seek out a place where we can have a moment of peace and tranquility. In the discipline of Chado such a place can be found. The four principals of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility, codified almost four hundred years ago, are timeless guides to the practice of Chado. Incorporating them into daily life helps one to find that unassailable place of tranquility that is within each of us."

Soshitsu Sen
Urasenke Grand Tea Master XV
From Urasenke Tradition of Tea