Over the Hill on the Yellow Brick Road, I wandered past a house and heard the front door slam. An antique tea kettle stomped away from the door furiously. She was coming toward me and shouted:
TEA KETTLE: Screw this! I’ve had it! I’m outa here!
If you don’t mind that I’m asking…uh…what’s the matter?
TEA KETTLE: You’ve never been a tea kettle, have you?
Not that I can recall.
TEA KETTLE Then you won’t understand. I can’t handle this job anymore! Can’t take the stress! Day after day! Week after week! Year after year!
Why is it so horrible?
TEA KETTLE: It’s like this. Every morning, I sit peacefully on the stove top, minding my own business. Then suddenly, someone shoves water down my spout. Then my bottom warms up. It gets hotter…AND HOTTER…AND HOTTER!!!!
I never thought about it that way.
TEA KETTLE: You haven’t heard the worst of it. Then! The water inside me starts to get warm…and HOT…and HOTTER! It’s so hot it bubbles and churns like crazy! The stress is unbearable! I can feel my blood pressure going up!
Wow. Believe it or not, it sounds like a lot of jobs I’ve had as a writer working in an office.
TEA KETTLE: You’re kidding.
Nope. There are times I’ll sit quietly at my desk, and then someone comes over and gives me a writing assignment. I say, “Okay. When do I need to submit this?” And the answer is always, “Yesterday!!!!!”
TEA KETTLE: So what happens?
So, I rush around like a lunatic to get the writing assignment done! I feel my heart beating faster! I feel my blood pressure going up! I raid the candy machine and eat all the Kit Kats!
TEA KETTLE: Let me guess what happens next. You finish…and everything calms down, right?
Right. And usually the person who asked me to do the assignment doesn’t look at it for three weeks.
TEA KETTLE: The same thing happens to me after I boil. My whistle blows. Someone rushes in and turns off the heat underneath me and pours out the hot water. I’m at peace again. Until another person wants tea! It could be anywhere! Any time! Then the heat shoots up under me again! I get hotter, and HOTTLER AND HOTTER! Every time I hear someone say, “Would anyone like tea?” My heart sinks.
I hear ya. And you know, I used to think these high pressure jobs were exhilarating. I used to feel excited when I had to exert super high energy to get a job done right in that moment.
TEA KETTLE: Me too! I felt so alive! Like I was part of a team! In the kitchen!
But these days, I don’t see it that way. All that pressure is ridiculous and meaningless. Who needs it? Let someone else run around like a chicken without a head.
TEA KETTLE: You said it. That’s why I just quit working for the family I’ve been with for years. I don’t want to be under that kind of pressure at any given moment, all the time, anymore.
I get it.
TEA KETTLE: On the other hand, what else am I gonna do with my ridiculous life?
___________________________________________________
The tea kettle and I continued walking together and chatting until we passed a little girl in a park. She was having a picnic with her teddy bears. Each bear had a paper plate and tea cup in front of it. The little girl was feeding the bears make believe food. That gave the tea kettle an idea. If the bears were eating make believe food, why not wash it down with make believe tea? The tea kettle mustered up enough courage to pitch the idea to the little girl, and she loved it.
These days, the tea kettle pours make believe tea for the bears on all occasions. So…Maybe as we grow older, our bodies age. But the ideas that spring from inside us can always be new.
Copyrightoverthehillontheyellowbrickroad2018
Love your conclusion: “Maybe as we grow older, our bodies age. But the ideas that spring from inside us can always be new.”
Let’s hold onto that 🙂
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I’m so glad you liked the conclusion. I really do believe no matter how old we get, our creativity can carry us through…as long as we don’t squelch that voice inside us. 🙂
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Having had a high stress job in the past, I can empathize with that tea kettle. I’m much happier where I now work. It’s my version of being useful without all the heat!
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Me too! No more commuting to New York City for me! I love working at home! 🙂
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I’m all done with boiling and you know what? The peace that surrounds my make believe picnic seems to magically brew contentment and contentment is really the key to all things (including that mystery called creativity), I loved this by the way 🙂
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One reason I became a writer was because I love making up the happy endings. Another version of contentment. I know you’re always out there relating, and I love your blog as well. Glad we’re virtual friends.
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The make-believe tea party reminds me of retirement.
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I agree. Except I definitely eat real food. In fact, a little too much of it. 🙂
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We agree on that part too.
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Haha!
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Loved this! Very creative!!!! 🙂
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Thanks very, very much!
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And yet somewhere, on an otherwise peaceful evening, there is crazy woman tearing apart her kitchen, bellowing, “Where the hell did I put that freakin’ tea kettle?!”
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Oh well. I guess she’ll just have to go to Starbucks. 🙂 🙂
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Aside from dealing with a hot bottom now and again, I think we all need to let out a bit of steam. Although, having make believe tea with a little girl sounds delightful 😊
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Yeah. I miss having imaginary tea parties with imaginary friends. They were the best. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with that little girl either. 🙂
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Imaginary friends make the best friends…they rarely fight with you, and they’re so easy going. I may have to find them, again, one day 😉
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So sweet. I love your posts. They always brighten up my day and are a nice antidote to my often darker words 😊Wilde
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And I love your darker words.
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This reminded me of an old Persian poem I studied once, maybe by Ferdosi. In it, a long conversation ensued between the various pots and pans in a kitchen cupboard after the owners retired for the night.
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Sounds like a fun story. I’ll look it up online. Thanks for letting me know about it. I can never have enough conversations with pots and pans.
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There are many great lessons to be learned from that Tea Kettle.
And I love her new gig!!
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Me too. Something to aspire to. 🙂
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I just love this! so inspiring, A friend and I were just discussing something along those lines the other day.
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Yeah, I think the high pressure thing just hits you at some point in life. Maybe it doesn’t always have to do with age. Maybe it’s just about soul searching and making transitions when you’re feeling the need.
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Those hot bottom moments are not any fun. I prefer quiet moments of inspiration! Great conversation!!
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Well, your quiet moments of inspiration definitely pay off. I always love looking at your amazing art.
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I think when we get to a certain age, we have to do what makes us happy. If it doesn’t sit well with us anymore, then ditch it and do something new. I’m glad the kettle found a new job that made her happy. 🙂
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I’m glad the tea kettle found a new job that made her happy too. I love happy endings. That’s one reason I’m a writer. I love making sure there are happy endings whenever possible. Sort of a control freak in that way. 🙂 🙂
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More lovely philosophy. I very telling bit about those who heap on the pressure forgetting the urgency
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Yup. It’s a relief when you get off that merry go round.
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Loved this Cathi it was truly positive and explained how we evolve as we get older. Being older has so many benefits, I love it 😉
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Thanks so much, Elaine. Finding that balance between youth and aging is an ongoing struggle for me. I’m so glad we’re on the journey together.
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This book helped me….. It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now: HOW TO CREATE YOUR SECOND LIFE AT ANY AGE” by Barbara Sher.
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Thanks Elaine! I just ordered it on Amazon. 🙂
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Your welcome Cathi x
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That is one very wise tea kettle! May we all find ways to serve without creating unbearable stress in our own lives.
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Amen! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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I LOVE this!! Tea kettle reinventing herself. LOVE it! ❤️
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Oh thank you! I’ll pass your supportive words on to the tea kettle the next time I see her. 🙂
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Your post is so timely, I’ve been dealing with a lot of pressure with my job right now. I love challenges but sometimes they’re just too much. Still I prefer to work and be independent rather than have an easy life and depend on others. And yes, I believe that no matter how old we get, we can still be creative.
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I’m with you. I think creativity is the underlying key to so much in all of us.
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I don’t blame that teakettle. I think high-pressure jobs reduce creativity. I’m with the kettle here: who needs that stress? And I’ve noticed the older I get the more creative I get… Obviously just like you! 👏
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Yup. When the pressure is on, I eat everything in sight that’s made with sugar, get a sugar high, then crash. Who needs it?
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Ummm, me? Chocolate makes everything alright in my world. 🙂
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Good choice. A bucket of popcorn and Coke Zero at the movies does it for me.
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Loved this! Cheers to you (tips a cuppa imagination-tea!) ❤ ❤
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It always tastes the best and it never gets cold.
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I love the parallels in this piece and the ending. Wise words!
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Thanks, Maria. But, of course, easier said than done. Anxiety is like the Darth Vader of older age. LOL
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This is so charming. Loved it.
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I’m so glad ! Thank you so much. 🙂
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I definitely can relate! Another story delivered with perfection! My whole being smiled with the lil’ girls picnic ending! Have you been looking into my life? Grin! 😘 I am in awe of your talented creative way you tell a tale! Bravo! ❤️🌷❤️
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Aaaah! I’m so very happy I made you smile with the picnic. In return, your dog’s smile made ME smile. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Smiling! The world needs more grins and giggles! 😃
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I agree!
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Pingback: CONVERSATION WITH…An Antique Tea Kettle…Leaving Her High Pressure Career | theblackwallblog
Wow!!!! I am honored, flattered and beyond thrilled that you shared my Antique Tea Kettle post. You just made my day. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. 🙂
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I love the personification in your piece. So many are the lessons to learn from the kettle.
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I’m so glad you’re comfortable reading about talking tea kettles. 🙂 Inanimate objects have a lot to say. Thank you for your very kind words.
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Thank you too for your wise words. Keep us growing.
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Very creative .. I love this
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Thank you so much. That means a lot to me.
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Keep it up
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Again, the way you can say something with the different perspectives. So eloquent.
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Thank you, thank you and thank you. 🙂
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