Home-2

©Jason

J,

Overhead lights that pierce down from above make me feel uneasy, so I try not to use any lighting higher than head-level in the tea room. Because the windows are large, the sunlight pours in beautifully during the day, and when evening comes, I turn on the showcase lights, a floor lamp, and a few small lamps. And when I play the music I used to listen to as a child-

J,

It feels as I have returned to my childhood home.

I love our tea room. I love everyone who steps inside this space. I wish that our love could be conveyed to them, too.

I do not rush. I cannot rush, nor do I want to. It is not because there are countless days ahead, but because I realized that rushing does not make things happen any faster.

J,

Even when I land at O’Hare and head toward my childhood home, I realize I cannot truly go back to that place. It took a long time. It was only after many failures, partings, burying things in the ground, abandoning things to the sky, and turning away, that this evening finally arrived.

We sit here and drink tea. But we are not just drinking tea. We are thinking about the times we did not live. We are thinking about the times we have lived. In truth, we are drinking tea.

I thought of home. Being in the tea room makes me think of home. Others must be thinking about something, too. That is why we do not sit directly facing people. I do not face the tea master, and the tea master does not face anyone else. I wish for people to think here, drink tea, smile, and then leave.

The things that happened will surely happen again. Failure, partings, burying things in the ground, abandoning things to the sky, and turning away will absolutely happen again. And they will happen often. But if there are evenings where we can think of home, sit together without facing each other to drink tea, reflect, and part ways, then it feels like it would be alright even if everything that happened, and everything that never happened, were to take place.

That is what I am trying to do. I want to build up a feeling within them—that with the memories made here this afternoon, they can get through life for a while longer—and then send them home.

I love everyone who visits Heesum Tea room. I wish that our love could be conveyed to them, too.