vines in teacup and inter-connectedness of human

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.                 --- John Donne



I remember clearly the thesis of my project for my graduation paper even though it has been years since my graduation. I had no idea what inter-connectedness mean when my mentor mentioned about the term and asked me to do some research on the topic and wrote about it. I did understand it after reading some books and wrote my own understanding. But one does not get to understand it unless one really goes through the process of living in it. After years of real life experience, now I finally understand the whole meaning of it.

I guess the teacup I presented here today really speaks it all. The vines of a plant grow from the same seed. They seems to be apart from each other and yet they are part of the whole plant. If one piece of vine gets infected with sickness, it will spread to whole plant later. And so the well being of one helps the well being of the whole. Sometimes reality makes us think that we stand alone in the whole universe, but are we really living apart from others?

Today I look back and think about the people I met in my life. All their own stories seem to speak to some part of me in different period of my life. Some even mirror my own situation the time I met them. And some predict my own future events and vice versa. And I understand the real meaning of meeting them and they me. 

I guess life is about helping each other grow spiritually and exchanging life lessons. 

I think I am blessed to have some important friends in my life including the friend who helped ship this cup to me from US to Hong Kong. Thank you very much. You know who you are. And I take this opportunity to thank you.

The seller was very kind to send a photo she took with the teacup. Even the photo carries meaning to me. I knew it at once when I saw it. It is a photo of a butterfly resting on violet flowers. Friends, I guess you are right when you mentioned about me being in a transition. I guess the things happening now are helping me through this transition --- to grow higher in spiritual awareness. To transform like a butterfly, from cocoon to dancing creature. I think I am ready to fly. 

Thank you Terri and Martha for holding teacup Tuesday.

Downton Abbey --- Tea trio for Mary

When I first watched Downton Abbey, Mary is the one I am quite fond of, but as time goes by, I find her rather arrogant and sometimes ignores other people's feelings. She has her own struggles of course. Being the oldest daughter in her family, she has her own burden to carry. I guess all those tests she faces shape her into a more mature person.

I find this mauve tea trio quite a match to Mary's status and characters. The tea trio is by Wileman/Foley/Pre-shelley. I think it is in the style of Art Nouveau. The fern leaves reflect how the maker in that era put nature into everyday life objects. The color mauve/lavender is as popular as the royal blue for upper class I guess. The shape of the cup makes it a pleasure to drink from. Everything about this set is nature. 

I hope that you enjoy looking at this tea set as I do.

Have a nice week.

I am joining Terri and Martha for Teacup Tuesday. 

Downton Abbey --- tea trio for Edith

Today I would like to introduce you to this lovely tea trio by Royal Albert. It is a lovely dainty set with simple yet elegant handle and design. It is a common set that you can find online easily. I guess the set was produced in the 90's. 

This set goes well with almost every type of tea. I find that sometimes it is strange to find that some tea cups do not go well with certain kind of tea but this set really can bring out the favour and character of the tea. Although this set looks common, it is the most practical one. You really cannot judge this set by its looks and you will know its place in your tea cup collection once the tea is poured into this cup.

This set of tea cup reminds me of Edith in Downton Abbey. Edith is a lady with lovely character but somehow she has been ignored by her family and kept being walked on by Mary. I think that if she can see her own value and gives herself credit, she can be more confident and does not need to live under her sister's shadow. It is just that she tries too hard to win everyone's approval that she lost her own characters. Like this Royal Albert tea trio, she really has to know her own place in the world and appreciate herself without getting everyone's attention or approvals. She needs to know that even a plain lady can be of importance. And sometimes confidence can add more charm to the person than the looks can.

Hope you have a nice weekend.

I am joining tea cup Tuesday with Terri and Martha . 

Downton Abbey -- tea trio for Lady Sybil

Dear everyone,
Thank you very much for your kind words. I was happy about your warm welcoming words.

Indeed, last year was a bit hectic and intense for me but what I gained was the travelling and food experience. What is most important is that I truly feel that happiness come from having a calm and peaceful life rather than luxurious life filled with material things. Sometimes those who are at the top of social ladder really do not have a sense of peace and lost in the mundane world. 

I guess everyone should follow their dreams rather than choosing what other people expect them to choose. Success means different things to different people. By following your own unique path, you will feel peace no matter what cos you are waking up every day doing things that you enjoy. I guess this is the reason why Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey choose her own path even though there are people objecting her. 

The tea trio I choose for her is made by Fenton. The deep royal blue indicates her prestigious background, the pale baby blue represents her dreamy nature. She is not afraid of fighting what she truly believes and follows her heart's desire. 

I hope all of you can enjoy doing what you like and keep doing it.

Have a nice weekend! 

I am joining Martha and Terri for tea cup Tuesday. 

Rose in a tea cup-- a return to tea posts

Dear all,
I am back to Tea Cup Tuesday. I am glad that this event is still going on. Thank Terri and Martha for hosting tea cup Tuesday. Last year was a busy year for me as I changed my job and there were some business trips I needed to make. Therefore I did not have much time visiting you all and I must have missed a lot of tea cup posts. Hopefully this year I will be able to keep up. 

Due to busy schedule, I had stopped adding new tea cups to my collection. But the other day while I was browsing the site, I came across this beautiful pink cup with dusty pink rose in it, I had been waiting to add this to my collection, I saw one for sale in a Canadian site but the shipping costs too much and the price of the cup was high, and so I waited and waited for another one to come up on the site. Yes, it did come up. This one was from the UK seller, with reasonable price tag and reasonable shipping cost. It only took 10 days to arrive. 

I always got put off by high shipping cost and sometimes the shipping costs much more than the item itself, dear all, have you got put off by shipping cost and have you come across in similar situation when the shipping costs much more than item? Do you still go for it or wait to get it elsewhere? sometimes I wait to get it elsewhere but sometimes when I am sure that the item is rare, i will just snap it without second thoughts. 

I envy some of you because you live in countries where tea cups are easily found in vintage stores. And shipping cost is not a problem at all. 

Where do you usually find your tea cups? I usually find them on two popular vintage selling sites. 

This is the first post of the new year and here I wish every one a new beginning for new year and may you be blessed with all the blessings and joy in your life. 

Easter Lily by Paragon-- faith to walk thy path

In the past few months, I could feel that things happened in sequence to test me to the max. I lost this and that, mostly I lost things that i need to survive in this material world. And thank God, I did not lose my spiritual side, the one thing that makes us human, that one thing that links us to the higher realm. 

I could feel that I was in the dark. I saw the ugliness of human hearts and the irony is that how this ugliness is celebrated by society and how it works well to bend those who are sided with the light. Certainly the world is full of duality. Where there is light, there is dark. At the moment I feel that the light is yet to shine brighter to maintain a healthy balance of the world. 

I asked myself many times if I need to change myself in order to adapt and survive in this world. No, i dont need to. I just need to work around it to protect myself. Along the path, two people told me not to change. They must have seen something precious in me that made them say that. If i dont keep the light, if i switch off the light, the world will get darker and darker. If more people switch off their light because they think it helps them to survive. sure the dark will win at the end. 

The world is heading to a crazy direction. Instead of spending time to admire God's beautiful creation of the world(the nature, the art), people are plotting every second to destroy each other, that is what they call survival skill. Observe nature, we seldom see animals killing their own kind, even lions dont do that, they merely protect their own land and get rid of intruders, they fight, but they dont seek to eliminate. Only when their lives are threatened, they seek to kill. But humans are not like that, the fear and needing to control and their own imagination are doing the tricks to them. When there is no dangers, they seek to destroy first. 

I hope that the world will become a better place and that people start putting more trust and faith in it. Actually there should not be fear and needing to control. Things will fall into places if we learn to trust the human heart. 

Like the easter lilies in the paragon cup, I hope that humans can remain a pure heart and keep their own light even though at times it seems that walking a dark path helps reach their goals faster. following the dark is like forcing something to happen while following the light is like letting things to happen in their own courses. The dark sure can help you reach your goals faster but when there is time to leave this world, you would have wished you had chosen a bright path. 

I am joining Terri and Martha for tea cup Tuesday. 

Have a lovely week!

My love for 'The Great Gatsby'

I first came to know 'The Great Gatsby' in my sophomore year. It was on the reading list for the world literature class in my university. And now it's been my all time favourite. The impact this work has on me is unexplainable. Sometimes I still find myself in tears when turning the pages. I try to find the reasons but cannot, even when I was in my most contented self, I would tune into the energy of that Jazz age era and got 'depressed'. 

photo belongs to the movie 'The Great Gatsby' 2013

The cup I can think of to match the Jazz Age is this cup by Royal Albert. The gold band at the edge is like the head band the flappers wear. The hot pink is a rather flamboyant color. It's the color of the new money or those rebellious second generation of the old money.

Now back to the book. 
It takes little to get me hooked to this book:

'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.' --- 'The Great Gatsby'

The opening is simple yet powerful. I got a strong feeling that I must listen to the protagonist for he--Nick Carraway must have something important to say after learning life lessons.

We got to see the old rich Daisy and Tom and their restless lifestyle from Nick's perspective. 

'The had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.' 

And then Gatsby appeared in a mysterious way:

'Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.' 

In search of Daisy, Gatsby holds parties often hoping that Daisy would one day stepped into his parties. 

'In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.' 

It is a simple love story, the theme is almost cliche. It's about a man Gatsby who cannot forget his first love--Daisy years after Daisy's marriage, thinking that now he is rich, he can turn back time and changed history, to win Daisy's heart once again. Failing to notice that things change and fate throws them in different circumstances, Gatsby hurt himself at the end and pays a great price. Yes, love is there but the people, the surroundings are different. Daisy is used to the status her husband can give her, not to mention that she has a girl already. Yes, Gatsby can offer her the comfort of life but his wealth also comes not without scandals. 

Story line is simple but prose is very powerfully written.
I finished it in one sitting, I could not wait to see the story unfold, so page after page I read on till the end and by the time I finished it, it's way passed midnight. 

At the height of the story, I found myself crying like a baby. It's a touching story indeed, in reality, how many men can still think about first love/past lover when he has all the wealth and all the girls in the world? How many of us can at least believe in the illusion of love? 

Fate is a funny thing. It takes people, timing, place, a bit of magic to make a relationship work. Reading the book, I truly tuned into the energy of the book and felt things the characters felt, I felt their pain, sorrows, anger and all those that make up a tragedy. 

What if you love and lost and found love again with the same person? Do you start over again or do you let it slip away? If love gives you a second chance, are we brave enough to embrace it once again? Maybe things have changed, but love never will. 

But whatever we do, 'we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.' 

I am joining Tea cup Tuesday with Terri and Martha