This story is about a blind mug collector and a time when he thought about a tea cup. Though we may have more interest in the young man, it is important to note the tea cup was a one of a kind hand crafted masterpiece from the Master Craftsman. It was very well made with beautiful colors and the perfect combination of elegance, playful swirls, and transparency that allows the light to radiate and brighten the surrounding space. Though it is a work of art and worthy of great care, it acquired damage around the handle. The Master Craftsman was bringing it into a fully restored condition, but our story with the young man starts before the work was fully complete…
Now this young mug collector was quite the eccentric personality. He loved to awaken early in the morning and enjoy the quiet with some tea mildly sweetened with honey, never milk. He did not like milk in his tea. While he had a preference for herbal teas, but was always pleased with what ever was available. For a man with this measure of interest in the culture of tea, it would seem odd that he never drank from tea cups. This is where he diverted greatly from the norm. He only drank from mugs. The strong and sturdy type. To him they were like family and friends. Each mug he collected had a personality of its own. Some were funny shapes others had clever slogans spelled out in the texture and in all there was great variety with in the collection. While he only regularly drank from a few he enjoyed maintaining a connection with as many as he could, even if it was only once in a long while. He had a special routine for holding them to get to know each of the mugs and they were tied to joyous memories of the past. It brought him much joy to be reminded of the blessing it was to have each mug in his collection.
He had nothing against tea cups. He thought they were beautiful and he knew people that spoke endlessly of their love for well crafted tea cup. He was aware of the expense involved and felt his income to meager to invest in such a venture. He knew they were more delicate than mugs and thought himself maybe to ruff to properly care for fragile art work and to do so every day! He had few experiences with tea cups as a boy and they did not help to create more interest but quite the opposite. So he avoided the whole dynamic entirely and stuck with his mugs.
One day he was in the process of adding a few mugs to the collection. He was entirely unprepared for what was about to happen. He heard a tea cup in the distance that had a sparkle to its clink as it was set in the display. He dismissed it easily but later in the day he heard it again. He did not actually know it was the same tea cup at the time as it had been moved to a different display case and the acoustics were different enough to change most of what he heard, but that glint of light, that glow of music rang in his ear. As he would stop in the store from time to time, this tea cup continued to catch his attention and he became almost agitated by what began to happen. At one point he even had a dream and the tea cup was in it. While it was not the focus of the dream, he was bothered by what the meaning might be. It seemed an interest in this tea cup was growing, and he tried to fight it.
When he finally admitted to himself that this was the case, he sought out an expert friend of his. He was familiar with this tea cup as it was widely regarded an exquisite work of art. He mentioned some minor repair work that had been done but ultimately gave a rave review. Our poor collector began to be aware of a range of confusing reactions and a wealth of apprehension. He brought this up with a Professor he had met. This very wise man listened to the young collector and eventually told him these feelings were not something to be rid of, but embraced.
"Think about it, you know tea cups are delicate and highly valued. Your apprehension is only natural. Use this as a guide line to being careful as you seek out more information."
Our slightly relieved mug aficionado then plotted out his movements. He modified the routine so as to take extra care. With a wealth of courage and for the first time in his adult life he went to reach for this rare ceramic piece. He was so encouraged at the brushing of the rim without it crumbling to dust! As he blindly made a move for the handle, his thumb came across the sharp edge and was split open. He thought he put it down gently but to this day is unsure if he could have done better. The teacups sound rang true and seemed to be okay but he was in pain and he could not see the what and why of his thumbs current state. He quickly pressed against it to stop the blood flow and pain brought air into his lungs.
He made his quick retreat trying to fight the fear attempting to blanket him from this unforeseeable incident. He had built up such courage to even try and now was in pain. Would he be able to reconcile this new found interest and resulting discomfort, or would he resign himself to life as it had always been. Before he calmed down his mind was full of the back and forth of ocean waves. "What was I thinking? Will I ever build up such courage again? Is there a point to it? I made a plan, why did I get hurt? Do I deserve anything so nice?" A wealth of melodramatic and ultimately silly questions welled up, were categorized, and dealt with.
After tending to his wound he set his mind to planing for his next step. His thumb held the memory of the sharp edge in the form of a superficial scratch and regret tried to take hold. It failed as the light began to grow from deep with in him. He was choosing to learn from this. Yes, he knew it was not the fault of the teacup. and Yes, more surprisingly for him, He still had interest is the sound of that teacup. He decided instead of reaching out for the tea cup to seek out the Master Craftsman. He would know what style of cup was the best fit and would never entrust one of his works to someone if it was not yet ready.
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