The Tea I Keep Drinking When I Don’t Feel Like Myself

July 9, 2026 | N.P. Lim

A cozy, dimly lit workspace on a wooden desk features an open laptop on the right displaying a text document with a bright screen. In the left foreground, a large ceramic mug filled with a dark beverage sits next to a sheet of paper covered in handwritten notes and a light gray pen. The mid-ground is softly illuminated by a glowing scented candle in a glass jar resting on a small round wooden tray alongside a textured pastry. Behind the tray, a clear glass vase holds leafy green branches, flanked by a stack of books on the right and postcards pinned to the wall on the left, creating a warm, focused, and calm atmosphere.

There are days when tea feels unnecessary.

Not because I stop liking it, but because I don’t feel like the version of myself who usually drinks it slowly, thoughtfully, and with attention.

On those days, I still make tea anyway.

Not out of ritual, but out of habit.

It is never the elaborate kind of tea. No careful measuring. No waiting for the perfect temperature. Just something simple. Something familiar. Something that requires almost no decision-making at all.

And perhaps that is why it helps.

I used to think tea was something I approached with intention. A small act of mindfulness in an otherwise busy day. But over time, I’ve realised that tea also exists in the opposite moments. The distracted ones. The uncertain ones. The slightly unbalanced days when nothing feels particularly settled.

There is one tea I return to often in those moments. Not because it is special, but because it asks for nothing from me. It does not require appreciation. It does not demand reflection. It simply exists in the background, warm and steady, while I figure myself out.

I drink it while thinking too much. While doing too little. While waiting for clarity that never quite arrives when I expect it to.

And slowly, without me noticing, things feel a little less heavy.

I find this interesting about tea. It does not insist on being experienced in a certain way. It adjusts to the person drinking it. It can be ceremonial, but it can also be forgettable. It can be profound, but it can also be ordinary.

And somehow, it still works.

Maybe that is why I keep returning to it.

Not because every cup is meaningful.

But because it is always there, even when I am not.

With quiet regard,

N. P. Lim

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