A lot of cultures around the world take a break in the afternoon. Siestas come to mind and English Afternoon Tea. That's only two cultures, I'm sure there are more but who has the time for research?
In America, the idea of a siesta was always seen as being lazy, I remember cartoons portraying characters as Mexicans (I think) and they were sleeping on the job, and we, the observers, should scorn this kind of activity.
If I think back to how English tea is portrayed it seemed rather posh, a time when people with LOTS of money and no real responsibilities could just drop anything they were doing to have a spot of tea. Again, American culture frowns on the ultra-rich and not constantly providing for the greater good (whatever that is).
Obviously, we were meant to think that taking a break in any capacity makes you a garbage person with no sense of pride for self, family, or country. Well to that I say FOOEY!
I'm bringing back tea time, or at least trying to make it a thing now! Here's why I think you should too.
So I did do some research, and tea time originated with the royal crowd in England in the 1840s because a duchess got hungry around 4:00 pm and dinner wasn't until 8:00, so she decided to make it a thing. And all her friends were happy, what a great idea they thought, let's get dressed up and have some tea and cute tiny sandwiches, adorbs. Well, we're just as good as any duchess so we can do the same thing. Sure these fancy ladies probably did this because they were bored and, yeah, this was just an excuse to get out of their drafty old houses, but it caught on. This tea time tradition traveled to the countryside, and I saw Anne with an E, they had tea time in Canada too! You know why? Because people get hungry and need a little break in the afternoon!
You are probably already doing this in some capacity. There is probably some part of your day where you need a break, or you need to collect yourself before or after your kids get home from school or before you get home from work. The difference between a tea time and maybe what you're doing is the intention. Tea time is a very intentional time to take a minute and enjoy a warm beverage and a delicious treat, maybe talk to a friend, or just take a break from whatever royal tasks you are doing. What this break does physiologically is bring down all your stress hormones, build up your happy hormones, sounds like a good deal to me!
What you might be doing, and what I was guilty of for a long time, was trying to sneak a break in. When my kids would get home from school and were loud and overwhelming, I'd hide in the bathroom and scroll my phone not quite ready to face real life yet. The sneak-in/guilty feeling break does more harm than good typically. You might get irritated with your kids cause you need a break but they're bugging you or you just keep telling yourself 'just 2 more reels' and then you feel miserable looking for dopamine hits and your stress hormones are high, and now you're hangry and the rest of the evening feels like a mess. Been there.
So here is what I am proposing. Find that time in your day when you need a break. For me, it's before my kids get off the bus, so at 3 p.m. everything stops at my house. I make myself either a coffee or tea and I have a nice snack, something delicious, maybe fancy cheese, or a no-bake cookie, and I sit down and I read a book, no phone, no TV, just a break. And my intention is to just relax, enjoy the moment, enjoy the silence, the treat, and take a moment of gratitude for this space I created for myself. Let me tell you it is glorious. Sure someday I would love to make this a bigger thing where I invite a few people too and we can talk and connect, but for now, me and a book are good enough.
Maybe you can't do this every day, but pull out your calendar, and take one day this week to plan a tea time. What will you have? What will you drink? What would be a great snack to have at this time? Is there a book or magazine you've been wanting to flip through? Set the date, block your calendar. When the day comes around REJOICE and just enjoy the pure decadence you've treated yourself with. Building these small moments of isolated breaks into your day/week/month really helps you to find more joy and fun in your life, helps to shake off the stress you've been gathering, and also helps you to see all the good you're creating around you and call in more of it.
