The Tea Community Needs More Love
The tea community needs more love - not just passion
Passion is wonderful, magnetic, and good. Passion can also be misguided
Having passion is...sadly rare; we should celebrate it when we see it.
Yet, passion alone doesn't get us there.
We can be immensely passionate but blind or closed to new information.
We can be immensely passionate but stiff and rigid toward others.
We can be immensely passionate but...somehow still isolated.
Passion is wonderful; pursue it, lean into it, and share it with others.
While you're sharing, I'd encourage you to share graciously, knowing they will more likely share your passion if you aren't pretentious.
Being loving can be akin to being gracious. Gentle, humble, sincere; these are the qualities of love. These build up.
The tea community needs more love - not just knowledge
The wisdom of the past was hard earned. It is massively helpful, the community needs you to share it; but when you do so abrasively, at best you're polarizing yourself unnecessarily while being just tolerated by the humble. At worst, all the knowledge you seek to impart falls entirely on ears made deaf by your demeaning nature.
Knowledge means nothing if it is only you that will hear it.
I don't care who you are, I don't care what you know.
If you have not love, it is wasted.
Losing one potential friend or ally to one instance of arrogance is unfortunate.
Losing many from being arrogant is folly, that is the path of destruction.
Mirrors were made for all of us, even moreso for those that are ahead. The further you are in your journey, the more care you should invest into maintaining your mirror; keeping it in pristine, clear, and very functional condition.
Do not be lax to use your mirror, and when all it does is reflect your best side back at you, buy a different mirror - you can no longer trust it.
Love doesn't puff itself up. Being loving means being approachable and kind.
A community with only knowledge isn't really a community. At best, it's an echo chamber or debate floor; but when the discussion topics run out, there is zero camaraderie to back it up. At least you'll have lots of free time to reflect on all your knowledge.
Love covers all
Both passion and knowledge can puff up. I have been guilty of this myself, as I share openly. When I am found to be prideful, please bring it to my attention so I may pause, reflect, and extend an olive branch.
Anything that builds one up has potential to tear others down. All who belittle should value the opportunity to be made little, that they might see how much consequence they truly carry.
It is a privilege, a grace, and a mercy to be humbled.
The humble know this, the haughty - may never.
If you haven't read these, they are very related:
Brandon Kendall
Brandon Kendall
