pots

I dare say that making tea drinking a serious hobby is probably one of the best things I've done this year.

The only contender would be taking school less seriously. Both has reduced my stress a lot. I remember there was one day in high school that I was on the verge of tearing up after receiving a not so great mark (physics I think?). In my (former self's) defense, that was probably a trigger for something else I was upset about. Luckily I get over things quickly.

Back on topic.
Sitting down and having tea is an easy way for me to step out of whatever I'm currently worried about. Making and tasting tea well (not implying that I'm good) requires an absurd amount of concentration relative to what you'd think. I'm especially bad at describing the smell and taste of tea. The particular flavour always seems so familiar yet I don't know how to pin it down to an exact word. So after focusing on deciding the exact vegetable that the particular Taiwanese oolong taste like (sweet pea? corn??), whatever I was previously stressed about is diminished.

In other (buzz)words, tea helps you focus on the present. I'll stretch the experience further by linking it to the concept of ichi go ichi e (一期一会, means the same thing as the Chinese characters), as every brew will never be the same.

For those whom I've had the pleasure of having tea with, hopefully you'll pick up the hobby too :D
And for those whom I haven't, you're always welcome.

ps. as if tea itself is not deep enough of a rabbit hole, there's always pots.