There are many factors of the tea company that have had a positive impact on my wellbeing , and these have included :
THE IMPACT OF BEING IN NATURE AND SURROUNDED BY NATURE In a review of the research , it has been concluded that contact with nature is associated with increases in happiness , subjective wellbeing , positive affect , positive social interactions and a sense of meaning and purpose in life , as well as decreases in mental distress .
My personal experience of being in the fields , with the chickens clucking next to me and the insects buzzing around me , is that I am given brief moments in the day when my focus is not internal . I am not focusing on the “ I should do ...” or “ I shouldn ’ t have done …”, but instead , the simple focus on life around me – the colours , the noises , the smells etc . This gives me time outside my internal focus and a break from the self-demands . ( Bratman , G . et al . ( 2019 ). Nature and mental health : An ecosystem service perspective . Science Advances , Vol 5 . No . 7 )
WORKING WITH TEA PLANTS An initial study examining the impact on workers having plants in the office have suggested that caring for a plant in the workplace helped mitigate stress and fatigue . Working with growing and nurturing plants provides a task with minimal emotional demands ( unlike being a parent ) but allows us to find satisfaction in seeing something thrive as a response to our care . This gives a sense of achievement and pride .
Walking around the fields and seeing how the tea plants
are flourishing gives me great pleasure . When some of the plants have struggled , it provokes my curiosity and a desire to experiment and find a solution , but it does not cause me the stress of “ failure ” or trigger self-critical thinking that often can happen when parenting or working in other environments . ( Toyoda , M . et al . ( 2019 ) Potential of a small indoor plant on the desk for reducing office workers ’ stress . HortTechnology .)
WORKING ALONGSIDE MY CHILDREN I am sure I am like many parents who are constantly worrying about whether their parenting is “ good enough ”. In particular , the ongoing endless battle with gadgets . I am definitely not an advocate for banning technology , but being able to provide the children with other experiences has been important . I often drag them unwillingly to the tea fields , for them to spend some time engaging with something much slower and less immediately gratifying than computer games .
Some of my fondest memories are blackberry picking with my father . We often didn ’ t talk whilst we picked , but there was something about completing a simple repetitive task together that was meaningful and important for our relationship . When I am in the field with my children , weeding or picking the tea alongside each other , I am grateful to have time with them in shared purpose . Task sharing has been demonstrated as important in connecting people and enhancing attachments . This need for shared purpose and activity has possibly seemed even more important after the pandemic , where many individuals felt socially isolated .
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