Minding the Gap

Hello friends! I hope everyone is off to a good start in 2014. I, for one, was immensely glad to see the calendar switch to January, as 2013 was one of the most difficult years I've endured. It was definitely my worst financially, which led to me not getting to England as hoped. I have not given up, though. It will happen at the most beautifully perfect time for me, although I am certainly hoping that that means this year!

There's a phrase used in the London Underground called "mind the gap". It means be careful stepping from the platform to the train door. I love the phrase and can't wait to see it when I'm riding the Tube. But as the phrase has come to my mind many times, there's a deeper meaning that has emerged.

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Right now, there's a gap between where I am and where I want to be. That applies to pretty much all areas of my life, but let's just specify it to getting over to England. I've received the dream, and have done initial research, but quite honestly, I feel like I've dropped the ball a little bit on actively pursuing this. I feel a bit like it's completely out of my hands (which it is), so what can I really do about it, hmmm?

Plenty.

I need to mind the gap better in 2014. I need to be constantly doing things that remind me of my dream, and that will help me move toward it, even if it feels like the tiniest step. Whether that is reading or researching or talking to someone, the point is that it's doing something. One thing I plan on doing is blogging on here more, even if it's just about a video or article I saw about something British. It will help to keep me more connected.

Each of us has a gap somewhere in our lives that we need to mind better. We are in the season of New Year's resolutions, and fresh starts. Let's all make it a point to be more diligent in minding these gaps, of making our goals and dreams a reality.

And just for fun, I'm pretty sure I found this on Buzzfeed. I love it!

A Fun Little Project....

Hello, readers! For the few of you that do keep up with this blog, I sincerely thank you! Once I get to England (no, I'm not over there yet), I should have a lot more exciting stuff to post on a regular basis, but for now, I only seem to manage blogging every couple of months.

There isn't anything new to report on the getting-to-London front. Finances and circumstances have become increasingly difficult this year-not at all what I had been hoping or expecting. Still, God has a plan in all of this, and I'm praying that I am on the cusp of a huge breakthrough.

What I wanted to post was that in the meantime, my friend Jen and I decided it would be fun to create a twitter account to post British words and their meanings. I've been fascinated with British English much longer than I've had the dream of briefly living there. Their words and phrases are fantastic, sometimes making more sense than the American equivalents. So, I'm really excited to explore the language more as I tweet about various British words. Feel free to follow us on twitter at @BritWordaDay.

One last thing, below is a picture I created on Tagxedo, a site where you can create word clouds. I made this one to go on our twitter background, and I love it so much I'm sharing it here, too. Enjoy!

Happy anniversary!

I just wanted to take a moment to blog on this anniversary. One year ago today, the first seed was planted of this idea of living in London and studying photography. It's so hard to believe that a year has passed already, and to be honest, I did expect to be over there by now. In fact, I had expected to have gone and already come back by now. But, as with pretty much everything in my life, my timetable is different than God's, and if He hasn't sent me over there yet, there has to be a good reason. He is lining up and orchestrating everything just so that when he gives me the green light, it will be at the appointed time He wants me there.

The longer one's wait, the better one's payoff.

So, I will keep waiting, and try to enjoy the journey.

Living the Dream

I was thinking of the concept of "living the dream". It refers to when your dream is actualized, and you're already in the middle of it. But what if there is a different way of looking at it?

What if we thought of living the dream including the period of time we are waiting for our dream to happen. Isn't that living the dream as well? When we're full of anticipation and hope that our dream is coming, when we're planning and preparing, and waiting day by day? If that's not part of living the dream, I don't know what is. It's just that we don't like to talk about this part of it as much, because, let's face it, waiting can feel like crap at times. Our impatient selves want our dreams to happen yesterday. So we only want to talk about the dreams that have actually come true already.

What I'm discovering, though, is that there is beauty in that tension of waiting between discovering your dream and getting to do your dream. It doesn't often FEEL like it, but it can be a blessing. I have plenty of dreams, but right now the one that weighs on my heart the most is getting to England (you can read the full story HERE). This journey toward England officially began almost a year ago, and although I'd hop on a Heathrow-bound plane tomorrow if I could, I kind of like that it's all still ahead of me, rather than behind. These many months have given me an opportunity to test my desires and motives, and my resolve for going over there has actually increased from that. Anticipation can be half the fun anyway, and my anticipation continues to grow, knowing everything with going to England is yet to be experienced. Knowing you have a dream and are working towards it...it's kinda like a badge of honor (or rather, honour)! THAT is also living the dream.

When I finally am in England, eating scones and riding the Tube, as I look back on the journey that got me there, it won't have begun when I booked my flight or signed up for my photography classes. No, it began with those very first seeds of desire, that took root and blossomed over a long time of careful watering, sunshine, and fresh air. To all those who are also waiting on something, try to slow down and enjoy the process in getting there, this period of refinement.

Let's really LIVE our dreams.

"I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him." -Psalm 62:1

*As an added bonus, click HERE to see amazing COLOR footage of London from the 1920's!

I Haven't Forgotten

Spring has arrived, but with it a sinking feeling, wondering when I will finally be able to make it over to England. My heart feels so ready, but it's never just that easy. It's a process, a process I can't even begin to fully see with my human eyes. I could name so many reasons why NOW is the time, but God knows better than I do. There's more to the story, that I will discover through time and transpiring events. It's very frustrating, but I haven't forgotten, nor given up on my dream. Just because it hasn't happened YET, doesn't mean it's not going to happen AT ALL.

Nevertheless, that is the reason why I haven't blogged in a couple of months, because there really hasn't been anything progress to blog about, sadly.

However, I thought I'd mention some of the things I have been praying and still need to be praying about. If you feel like joining me in praying for these things, I would greatly appreciate it! 

Pray for the following:

*God making the impossible, possible.

*Provision to be able to go (soon, I hope!).

*That I can trust God's timing, even if that means not going for another five years.

*God orchestrating the right people for me to stay with there.

*Opportunities to be a light there.

*For amazing friendships and connections made with people while in England.

*The faith to continue believing that this WILL happen!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, seriously. I know not much has been posted yet, but when God gives the green light, I plan to be posting a LOT more! Until then. :)

Happy New Year!

Well, 2013 has arrived, and with it, a proclamation that this IS, in fact, the year that I go to London! It's always scary to say something like that, in fear that this December 31st (or as it would be written across the pond, 31 December) may find me eating my words in embarrassed shame if I don't actually make it over there. Eh, so what? I'm going to say it anyway, because I still feel like God is going to get me there, and sooner rather than later.

While there is still no money yet for this venture, I'm still trying to do the little things that I am able to do. My financial attempts to get a passport have failed the past few months, but that is the first big item on the agenda. I hope to get one within the next month, as I save accordingly. That will be HUGE. I am crazy excited about that!

I wanted to also mention my main goals for my venture to London. Although photography is at the forefront, this stay over there encompasses so many other areas as well. It will be life-changing in every way.

GOALS FOR LONDON (in no particular order):

1.) Get a great foundation for photography
2.) Complete the photography program
3.) Build my photography portfolio
4.) Learn to depend on God in a deeper, greater way
5.) Discover more of myself away from everything and everyone that is familiar
6.) Spend lots of time writing
7.) Blog about my adventures and observations
8.) Make lots of great friendships and connections
9.) Experience complete cultural immersion
10.) Incorporate British words and phrases into my vocabulary
11.) Discover a tea that I actually like (I really want to enjoy tea!)
12.) Drive on the other side of the road just once

And since this is 2013, I should probably have 13 goals, soooo...

13.) HAVE FUN!

Last, but not least, a great friend of mine posted this video to my facebook page of how London rings in the new year, and it was just TOO GOOD not to put on here! They sure know how to celebrate! Hope your new year is getting off to a wonderful start! Check back soon!

Ello!

This is my London journey.

My name is Tara, and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. For a little while now, I have felt like I am supposed to go live in London, England for a few months and study photography. If you knew me, you would know what a huge leap that is for me! Let me give you a bit of background:

The past few years I have had a growing interest in photography. All I own is just a simple automatic digital camera. If someone handed me a DSLR, I would probably panic a little. I have wanted to get a good foundation of photography so I can really see where I can take this. So, that's been on my mind for quite some time, however, I have lacked the means to do it.

Also, in the past few years, London has moved up to the top of my destination wish-list. I don't even know why, exactly. I have always loved British accents, and have wanted to travel to Europe for as long as I can remember. I have gotten more into British authors, movies, culture, etc. My brother and I had talked about taking a trip there together. My love for British things just kept increasing, getting to the point where I would actually start crying at the overwhelming thought of actually standing in London, seeing the clocktower that holds Big Ben, then the London Eye, and St. Paul's, etc. Of course, all of England is right up there with London. I want to see it all.

Then, there has been this desire recently to make some big changes. I have played it safe most of my life, and it's led me to a very stagnant place, not at all where I thought I'd be in my early 30's! I kept thinking how great it would be to just start fresh somewhere for awhile, but not something permanent so I could still return home to what is familiar and loved.

Soooo...earlier this year, sandwiched almost exactly between Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, there was July 2. I was off work that day, and doing lots of different searches online. School, job, etc. I tried to do a Google search on short-term photography classes, thinking that would be most ideal right now. This is almost exactly what Google gave me a few months ago:


Of course, I clicked on what Google suggested for me, surprised that London was the only city popping up. What I found was the London School Of Photography. I read a lot about it, and then sent a text to my mom, telling her about it. She responded by asking if I was going to apply. I texted her back with all kinds of excuses, mainly about money. I was certainly excited about stumbling onto something so cool, but there was no way, right?! That's crazy just to even think about it! So, I shrugged it off. Back to same ole, same ole life.

Or so I thought.

As the next couple of days went on, I found I could not shake this idea off so easily. In fact, I kept finding it at the forefront of my thoughts. Maybe there was more going on than I realized. I was praying and trying to decipher whether this was a "me" idea or a God idea. Truth be told, I'm still not 100% sure about that. But from lots of little things in this process, it seems to me that God has orchestrated this idea in my heart, and wants to bring it to fruition. The idea of living in London for a few months to study photography is an intricate intersection of so many desires I have had; desires that, honestly, cannot be fully explained or expressed. To me, it feels like something divinely bigger is going on. So, during this season, what I must do is maintain my faith that I will cross the pond, even though right now, it looks impossible by human standards.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God." -Mark 10:27

My goal with this blog is to chronicle my journey of making London a reality and getting there, then my adventures while I am over there. Hope you will check back and see what happens! The best is ahead!