The Ritual of Belonging: More Than Just Tea

What happens when you put a group of strangers in a room, pour tea and give them space to actually talk?

That was the idea behind our first Ritual of Belonging.

We gathered at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam for an evening centred around something simple, but increasingly important: belonging.

Not networking. Not small talk. Not another event where you leave knowing nobody.

We wanted people to slow down, sit together and have conversations they normally might not have.

The evening started with different perspectives on belonging. We spoke about being radically present, showing compassion, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and what it actually takes to make another person feel seen.

But the most important conversations happened around the tables.

With tea in between us, people who had never met before shared stories, listened to each other and sometimes discovered that they had more in common than expected.

That is exactly what we want Hikayat to become.

Not simply a place to buy good tea.

A reason to gather.
A reason to talk.
A reason to listen.

The first Ritual of Belonging showed us that there is space for more of this.

So this wasn't the end of something.

It was the beginning.

Tea. People. Stories.