I used to be rubbish at pouring tea from a teapot. I’d always end up spilling tea or having it drip down the spout onto the nice tablecloth. I assumed this was the way it was with teapots, they drip. Only recently-in the past week, actually-I started using a teapot daily at home.
For me, tea is a self-care ritual that makes me feel warm and fancy. Using a teapot also keeps my tea warm longer so I can enjoy more than one cup of hot brew.
All that to say, I finally figured out WHY I was failing at pouring tea properly.
Oh, I still get a drip here and there, I’m not perfect. I even keep a napkin under the spout to catch the drips. But the key to preventing drips is to watch the tea pour FROM the spout. That’s it.
Keep your eyes on what you’re doing, the pouring.
I never really knew where to look when I poured tea previously. When I pour the boiling water from the kettle into the mug or tea brewer, I usually just watch the waterline and make sure I have the right amount to make the perfect cuppa. When it comes to pouring from a teapot into a teacup I have to shift my focus and watch the tea move from the spout while keeping an eye on the level in the teacup from my peripheral.
Once I figured out WHERE to look, it’s all in practicing how slow or fast to pour, and that’s it!
I find that life is similar.
Oftentimes I am looking at the wrong place.
Watching the waterline, or in my case external forces, whether they be people or just the things I have no control over. I pour my emotions, feelings, words, and parts of myself out to these external factors and focus on them so much I start to drip, spill, and make a mess of myself in the process.
My focus is on others instead of myself.
Once I shift that attention back to ME, to my internal feelings, what I am saying, and what I hope to achieve I am no longer making a mess, or losing bits of my sanity and peace.
Again, I am not perfect here either, but as many programs say “progress not perfection.”
I am doing my best to focus on what I can control, what I have power over instead of the external. I will make mistakes and still be a little messy from time to time, but I will get better with practice. Hopefully, one day it will come naturally.
Just like I’ve gotten better at pouring the tea instead of spilling it… Unless it’s the latest take, but that’s another story.