Primrose Tea and Sympathy

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.

-T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

My sister requested a reset button for her vacation. I wish I could do the same for my weekend. Too many complications, arguments with loved ones, self-doubt, and add to that, random cantankerous strangers on the streets of Brooklyn who occasionally like to chime in with something resembling a put down. It’s that kind of a weekend. Having one of those days where I felt like my life was missing purpose.

So, I stormed out of my tiny apartment in search for a place that felt nurturing for breakfast and found myself at Primrose Cafe in Clinton Hill for tea. Under a brownstone, this small place has a feeling like you are visiting your grandmother’s house, complete with board games, garden seating in the back, and pretty shabby chic décor that set the right tone for my doodling and some comforting hot Earl Grey tea. I drew some real nonsense for a while until I got it out of my system. Maybe not solving all my problems, but certainly felt safe to just be.

It’s important to self-nurture. There are a lot of opinions that float out there about people’s worth or value. It’s easy to slip into a dark place of feeling worthless and powerless to change everything. I suppose these napkins are worthless since they no longer do their job of cleaning up messes since I’ve drawn on them. However, to me and maybe to a few people who enjoy them, they are worth considering. It’s all perspective in how we choose see any given situation.

So after tea, I took a short walk to a community garden. It used to be an abandoned lot, worthless. The people in the community felt this tiny piece of land was worth something to their garden and their art. Here’s a couple of pics of it…

These flowers aren’t solving world hunger but, certainly, they are not worthless to someone like me who needs a place to sit, be, and breathe in a nurturing place. Anyway, that’s my rant for the day. Just try to remember, your sheer existence is worth it to someone who might be sitting nearby you. Not everyone can be the beacon of hope to the world but your energy adds to everyone else’s life experience. Try to keep positive…or just doodle something crazy for your waiter or waitress. Peace!