Excellence

You may have noticed that Taylor and I can be a bit.. particular about many things. Coffee, tea, fresh food, nice clothes, good technology.  I know that to many people, we probably come off pretty snobbish and pretentious about such things.  But the truth is, we just love to know (all) about things we're interested in.  And since we're interested in things, we like to share them and about them, too.

Take tea, for instance.  Everyone's had a cup of tea, hot or iced.  Everyone either likes it or doesn't, with or without sugar or cream. But did you know that tea has an amazing history dating back thousands of years? There's worlds of ritual, culture, and tradition wrapped around just one tiny cup of teal. And we think it's fun to learn about how the drink has changed over the centuries and to notice differences in the many types of tea.

We were introduced to good tea by a Taiwanese sister who was studying with Taylor during his master's degree.  Seeing her quiet appreciation of the beverage inspired us to make tea an integral part of our day. It has become a comfort, a pick-me-up, a perfect accompaniment to meals or desserts, and it is such a treat when we can try a new tea.

But we don't look down our noses at teabags. In fact, most of the medicinal (herbal) teas we drink are bagged teas.  Yet, when I want a cup of tea, for the sake of enjoying the drink and savoring the flavor, I prefer good, well-preserved, loose tea leaves, the proper temperature of (filtered) water (no chlorine taste for me, thankyou), and a nice ceramic cup.  It is, in its own small way, art in a cup.

If one has taken the time to learn how to tie his shoes, he'd rather purchase shoes with laces than velcro.  There's nothing wrong with velcro, of course, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying the pleasure of tying two pretty bows, either. It's not about snobbery, it's about passion.

It's very true that there are people who are passionate and snobbish about something, when passion morphs into a conviction of supremacy.  When the gentleman begins to think that to tie one's shoes is the ultimate virtue of mankind and that velcro is only fit for the lowest-of-the-low shoe-wearers, then Huston, we do, indeed, have a problem.

But really--there's nothing wrong with having passions and pursuing them and sharing them. Let's not get too wrapped up in them, naturally, but let us also enjoy the authentic virtue in striving for excellence, in our passions, but also in all things. After all, I'm sure there are connoisseurs of velcro, don't you think?