I just came from a café catch-up with one of my oldest and dearest girlfriends. It’s late at night, i should be going to bed, but pulling in the driveway she sent me a text that read “i’m grateful to have you in my life”. That stopped me in my tracks.

Wow.

All of a sudden i was filled with an abundance of gratitude for her. And then an overwhelming wave of gratitude for all of the other amazing women, men, children, friends and relatives that i have in my life. And then i felt a rush of gratitude for all of the seemingly insignificant other bounties i experience on a daily basis purely because i am that blessed. Then i had to put sleep on hold, because this is important, and i wanted to share it with you.

But first things first. Kettle on. It’s time for tea.

That might just be my first piece in this series. My Gratefulness Series.

I’m house-sitting for the next 6 weeks for some friends who’ve gone holidaying in the Solomon Islands. Sun, sea, solar-powered everything, no internet, no electricity, no noise, just nature and good company. Sounds blissful

My friends said that their house is now my house and that i was to treat it as such. That included harvesting and eating all their deliciously organic home-grown fruits and vegetables and sampling any and all of their amazingly vast collection of exotic teas. Crikey, twist my rubber arm why don’t'cha!

Anyway, back to the series. I was acknowledging this flow of gratitude and that despite so many ups and downs in our lives, no matter where we are, where we’re from, what we’re doing, how much we hurt, how much we smile, how much we love, how much we struggle, there is always, ALWAYS something or someone to be grateful for. Every single day.

So for the next wee while, i’m going to do just that. I’m going to express my gratitude for at least one thing in my day that makes me feel full. Full of life and love and grace and awe and humility and joy and compassion and energy. All those little things that make me feel blessed, because truly, we can all appreciate small pleasures and be grateful that they were there to make our day a little more rich.

Just nigh on midnight, i am sitting here, thinking about all of you out in the ether, reading about little pascaliwagg at a little table in little New Zealand, listening to Piano Works by Craig Armstrong and drinking a cup of vanilla & raspberry-enriched rooibos tea, and savouring every sip. Why? Because i am actually grateful for tea.

Tea reminds me of warmth, joy and friendship. It reminds me of laughs shared in Japan when i lived there, as we’d splash out to buy the most exotic green tea with strawberry buds or lavender beads, and bake wee treats to enjoy while watching comedies, playing karaoke-esque games or indulging in deep and meaningful conversations. I miss those friends and don’t know when i will physically be in their presence again, but i am grateful for them and for those precious memories shared over tea.

Tea also reminds me of family. My family are actually huge coffee drinkers (that may very well be a post of its own one day!), but we also all appreciate a decent cup of tea. We all enjoy an English Breakfast in the morning, a subtle Earl Grey in the afternoon, and sometimes a Chai or a Gran’s Garden or a Moroccan Mint herbal in the evening. We all love tea time, even those new members that join the family end up loving the endless beverage list offered at Chez Battrick and they often end up loading their own cupboards with an insane number of tea options just to accommodate us visiting. My tea cup, empty or full, reminds me of my loving family, all spread out around the country and around the world. My heart almost aches at the thought of how grateful i am for them. It’s ridiculous that i could have a family as amazing as this.

Finally, tea reminds me of connection. I will often have “virtual tea” with my friends in foreign lands. We’ll schedule a Skype date and it will always begin with a tea-cup emoticon followed by a question mark.

It’s brewing. Please hold…..

When i first went travelling, 13 years ago, i had no cell phone, no computer, and had only just learnt about this elusive “e-mail” thingamajig. I’d send my parents a monthly update about which country i was in and which job i was doing, and every now and again i would snail-mail something back or find a public phone to make a long distance call.

Now, it’s almost as though i just need to think of you and you’re there. That’s how well-connected we are *whooooosh!*

Virtual tea reminds me of how far we’ve come in the world of connectability. I now have a laptop, a smartphone, multiple messaging services at my fingertips and i can contact anyone at anytime in any country or time zone, and enjoy them. I am grateful for the gift of living in a world where innovation allows me to instantly comfort a friend in need or celebrate the birth of their child, catch up with my long lost loves and encourage new ones to press on in their endeavours. It starts with tea, but ends in real connections.

Now it’s time to end this post so i’ll finish my last sip and rest my head. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s brew and the next thing to be grateful for.