All The Way

A song about staying on course, and a bonus story; my first ever Daoist fable

Special guest on this week’s Song-n-Delve is Shandra Moran, CEO of The Transit Lounge. Shandra is a radiant soul with a big heart and sharp mind.

The Song we delve into, “All The Way,” was born as I boarded a little dinghy on a lake some time back when I was in a muddle regarding a big, scary goal.

One foot on the boat, one foot on the shore

Betwixt and between the known and the dream

You’ve been here before.

Enjoy the Song-nDelve, and then, below the video is a story, inspired by the Taoist style of Chuang Tzu that I’ve been enjoying lately.

---

There’s a couple of lines in the song that morphed into the story below.

You heard the call to get up and follow the breeze

Finish your cuppa but don’t hang about reading the tea leaves

My Debut Taoist fable

The Prince And The Tea Leaves

Mae Dup, the ancient Chinese prince who never existed because I made him up, was sitting in his private walled garden. He had informed the court that he must go out into the world to woo for marriage one of the four princesses of the four realms. Before he set out, he retreated to the garden to receive the wisdom of life that the garden was known to provide to those with un undistracted mind. Mae Dup breathed in emptiness and spoke out into the garden.

“Oh wisdom of life, speak to me of my travels, which of the four ways shall I set out to find my true love?”

The wisdom of life answered not, so Mae Dup ordered a set of tea; may as well enjoy a cuppa whilst waiting for wisdom. He was savouring the joy of tea so much that he began to say, “Ah, tea- “ but before he could finish his praise a wind came up and blew some leaves across the garden and onto his feet, resulting in him saying this:

“Ah… tea- leaves!”

“Could this be a sign'?” he wondered. “Hmnn: Tea. Leaves. Tea leaves! Of course, yes! This is the wisdom of life telling me to read the tea leaves before I travel on my long march to find my true love.”

Mae studied his tea leaves for some hours. He found no wisdom. So he ordered his servant to find him a book on tea leaf reading, then spent several months trying to ascertain the wisdom of the tea. One day, a marriage procession went by. Prince Mae watched from his walled garden, sipping tea.

“It is the Princess of the East realm, married. Wonderful! Clearly she is not destined to be my bride. But which of the remaining three ways should I take? I will crack this tea leaf reading and find the true way.”

Months later, his head all in a muddle, and none the clearer about which way to take, he summoned the master sage, and they sat together for several more months discussing the ins and outs of tea leaf reading. One day a marriage procession went past; the Princess of the West realm.

“Okey…” said the Prince, “No problem; narrows it down. Only two directions left! Sage! Approach! And servant; bring some tea!”

The prince and the Sage spoke for more months. Was leaf reading, as some said, a divine direction expressed in the tea? Or was it as others proposed; random patterns that the mind would make meaning of, revealing deep seated unconscious wisdom? Was it as the Daoists proposed, neither one or the other but a third way that included and transcended such false binary?

Years went by. They barely glanced up when the third marriage procession went by, as they were so intent on unlocking the wisdom of the tea to discover the true way. One of the servants timidly spoke up at one point:

“Ah, most revered and nature-connected Prince of the Centre Realm, may I suggest that, er, given that three princesses are now betrothed, er… only one Princess is left that might… possibly… that perhaps you should-”

“Stop babbling you fool,” cried the prince, his eyes wide with caffeine jitters (super strong green tea back in Mae Dup days). “If I wanted a maths lesson I would have summoned the learned professors. Bring us more tea!”

The following year was a drought and the entire tea crop failed. All reserves of tea had been sent as wedding gifts for the marriage of the Princess of the Fourth Realm, as everyone in the land knew how passionate she was about tea.

Prince Mae declined the invitation to the wedding, and sat in his garden, thirsty.

---

Easy ways to support Song-n-Delve

Listen to Brett on Spotify and add him to your playlist.

Play Brett Robin music on your favourite streaming platforms.