Sorting through some old collages from high school and came across these. I should really start doing this again in my spare time. So fun.

I was searching around online today for tattoo ideas and found so many that I really liked. I had to share them. I admit, most of the tattoos though, were not beautiful. They made me question the person’s sanity or whether they were just drunk when they got it. But alas, I still want another one (don’t tell mom). I loved these.

We finally made it to England! Our flights and train rides were long and uncomfortable, but so worth it. We arrived last night at about 5:30pm England time (so about 9:30am California time). Tiana and Eric were waiting for us and we were so ready to be there. After arriving, we got a second wind and ended up staying awake until about 11:30pm.

Today, Tiana made us a traditional English breakfast: egg on toast, sausage, bacon, and baked beans and tea. Then we walked into Beeston and visited all the charity shops. We ended up having a burger and pint for dinner at The Last Post. We swung by the local grocery store and bought what we needed to make Zuppa Toscanna soup for dinner tomorrow night before walking home. We are having a great time and cant wait to see more. I’ll be posting again soon. Cheers.

Eric and Tiana in front of their house. I love their blue front door.

This is Andy, their cat.

Living room

Kitchen

Backyard. It just snowed recently, so everything’s still wet.

This is the street that Tiana and Eric live on.

Beeston

Way back in high school, I wanted to be a photojournalist when I grew up. I had acquired a copy of LIFE magazine as a Freshman, featuring famous war photographers such as Robert Capa and Margaret Bourke-White and was convinced that’s what I wanted to do. Not sure what was going through my head at the time. Now, I have no desire to document war, and in fact, it’s the farthest thing from a desirable career choice.

I saved up and purchased my first camera, a manual 52mm Nikon FM10, from an older friend of mine who was already into photography. I used it through high school and into college now and then, but gradually, it lost it’s charm and it has sat in my closet since then.

All this to say, I pulled it out and used it on a camping trip Steve and I went on last weekend. The pictures turned out great! I don’t think I’ll be taking it to war anytime soon, but from now on I’m sure I’ll get some good use out of it.

A couple weeks back, I was on a short quest to find a book of profound substance at the used book store. I wanted something that would change my way of thinking and challenge everything I’ve known… I didn’t quite find that, but I’ll tell you what I did find.

Everyday Sacred: A Woman’s Journey Home by Sue Bender.

This book, published in 1995, combines thoughts, stories, ideas and hopes that all center around one concept, a begging bowl. Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “what’s a begging bowl?”

In my 27 years of attending a church regularly, this concept was never shared, and probably never will. My guess is because the idea is somewhat uncomfortable, but mostly because it describes the practices of a group of monks.   Sue told the story best, so I’ll let her tell it to you.

“EVERYDAY SACRED appeared one day in my mind’s eye, in sure, bold letters, like one of those blinking restaurant signs. I didn’t even know what everyday sacred meant, but I knew it would be the title of my next book.

Two years went by and I didn’t write a word.

Than on a day when I was feeling particularly discouraged, another clear image appeared:

A BEGGING BOWL

Actually, it reappeared.

I had read M. C. Richard’s Centering years before. It was a book about clay and art and life. In it, Richards described Jean Genet, a French playwright, who had said he wanted to roam the countryside like a monk, holding a begging bowl, having filled it with what he needed for the nourishment in his life.

EVERYDAY SACRED and now the BEGGING BOWL.

It was obvious to all who knew me that I wasn’t a monk, and the very idea of begging would make most of us uncomfortable. In spite of that, the image of a begging bowl reached out and grabbed my heart.

The image of the bowl became the image of the book.

All I knew about a begging bowl was that each day a monk goes out with his empty bowl in his hands. Whatever is placed in the bowl will be his nourishment for the day.

I didn’t know whether I was the monk or the bowl or the things that would fill the bowl, or all three, but I trusted the words and the image completely.

At that moment I felt most like the empty bowl, waiting to be filled.”

Excerpt from Everyday Sacred, by Sue Bender. HarperSanFrancisco An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1995.

As an artist, and a woman, this concept of filling your begging bowl has really hit home with me. Sue mentions that she doesn’t know whether she’s the monk the bowl or the things that fill the bowl, and then leans toward being the empty bowl.

I didn’t see it that way. I feel more like the monk, and the bowl is my everyday life.

Yes, these two ideas are similar, but they are also very different. Sue strives to find herself by filling herself up, like the bowl. I feel like I’m already filled. My faith fills me and gives me hope and peace. Even though days are rough, I know this to be true.

My challenge now, is to accept that I have no control over what’s placed in my bowl everyday, and to be grateful for what is. As the monk, I realize my situation of choice, and now I’m learning to let go of controlling what’s placed in my bowl.