I was brushing my teeth, getting ready to leave.

I walked into the kitchen and saw my cup of tea, which I had completely forgotten about.

It stood there, waiting until it became cold.

Tea bag still inside, waiting for me to take it out and throw it away.

I looked at it with pity for a while, and I went to finish getting ready, because I knew I was at the point of no return.

But I thought about it, and came up with the conclusion that it’s a perfect metaphor for something. I didn’t know for what, but I knew it was something that I had to find out.

I came back home and saw the tea, still anticipating its finale. I poured it down the sink and threw away the tea bag mechanically, with no emotions. No guilt, no sadness, no frustration. Nothing.

The metaphor evaporated with the water. I had spent the day thinking there was something to learn from the forgotten tea, some insight waiting to be extracted. But when I finally dealt with it, I felt oddly indifferent. No disappointment, no amusement. Just a dull emptiness I hadn’t expected. I watched the tea swirl away, and realised there was nothing. Just a bag in the trash and an empty cup.

Not everything that feels significant actually is. Sometimes you just forget, and life goes on, and the meaning you were searching for was never there to begin with.

Sometimes tea is just tea, apparently.

But I’ll keep looking anyway. I can’t help it. This is just how I see.

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