Tea-Time with Demons

A couple of months ago, I stumbled on a book called Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe by Yumi Sakugawa. The back cover clearly explains what this book is about: “A hand-drawn path to inner peace”.

Thanks to Yumi, I now understand the kind of tea my demons enjoy, to say the least.

So, what doest tea-time with demons entail? Well, grab a blanket, a warm liquid of your choice, settle in a comfy seat, and let me enlighten you…

It’s alright to be confused when you speak with your demon for the first time. Why are you a part of me? How are you ever going to be good for me? To hell with my demons; I’ve never needed them before and I’ll never need them now.

It’s alright to be frustrated when you sit for tea with your demon. Please go away. Please stop ruining good moments. Please stop pretending to act as my saviour when all you do is destroy the good things around me.

It’s alright to be afraid of your demons. Who are you? Where did you come from? Can I ever accept you?

Everything that you feel, you are entitled to. Social media and society often paint the idea of having to ‘conquer’ our demons. But honestly, I just want to have tea and cake with them. I want them to answer the five W’s (Who, What, Where, When, Why).

Who are you?

“I’m your demon. Maybe there’s more than one of us inside you, but hi, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

What are you?

“I’m not even sure myself; sometimes I protect you and sometimes you run away from me. You call me your inner demon, but I don’t know what I should even call myself.”

Where are you?

“Inside you dummy. Where else would I be?”

When did you arrive?

“I think I’ve always been here. When you were younger, we got along and you didn’t mind me; we were even friends you could say. But when you started growing up and discovering yourself more, you drew a line between us, and here we are.”

Why are you here?

“I’m not sure, but it’s nice to finally be able to speak with you. We might as well get to know each other cause I’m not going anywhere, even if I wanted to.”

When you first see your demon, you might be surprised by the way it looks – or not. It could have curly hair, or be the size of a tiny octopus, or have long hairy legs that poke out from underneath the coffee table. Don’t be afraid; you probably look a bit weird to it too.

The most important thing when you invite your demon for tea is to let it speak. Allow it to express what its thinking, what its feeling, what it wants to say to you.

Observe and listen.

Have a gentle intention to get to know your own demon, and when its spoken to its heart content, invite it for more cake and tea – or coffee, whatever rocks your boats.

Little by little, you’ll get to understand your demon the same way we are trying to understand ourselves.

Why it sometimes breaks open when you least expect it.

Why it acts the way it does.

Why it thinks the way it does.

What its favourite type of cake is.

But most importantly, why its your demon.

Maybe you’ll take a couple weeks or months before you see your demon again for tea and cake. Maybe it’ll only be a few days before you want to catch up again. To each their own.

Just know that your demon also wants to be listened and understood. It has its reasons just like anybody else, and its about time we stopped ‘conquering’ our demons like if they were evil parts of us. Lets have brunch together and catch up.

Understand, and listen.

Observe.

Breathe.

Your demon is yours. It isn’t your fathers demon, nor your mothers, or your friends demon. It is yours and yours alone. It is your job to make it feel welcomed and understood, but also for it to understand you and your values.

So, grab a mug, put some background music you might enjoy, breathe, and go have tea with your demon.

I’m sure its been waiting to get to know you too.