The Solace Tent

The Solace Tent has become a bit of a legend amongst festival-goers on my beloved island. There's two major festivals every year; the Isle of Wight Festival and the Bestival; and for these events and many others, a bunch of well-meaning do-gooders buy tickets specifically to sit in a tent feeding and talking to anyone who wanders in through the doors.

I have sadly not been lucky enough to help out at a festival, but the past weekend has been an event called Park Life, and I was in the Solace Tent doing free henna tattoos while others painted nails and braided hair. But the things that caught my attention most, strangely enough, were the graffiti tables. They're new in 2007, I believe, and these are some of the things written on them so far:

Remember to look B4 U leap; but still leap or you'll miss life!

You've been tango'd

:( another year 2 wait!

ITS ALL ABOUT THE NUMBER 8 (THINK ABOUT IT)

I smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly!! -> festival goers!

:) smiles are free :)

Woohoo! I'm missing the rolling stones!

May this song be the soundtrack to all the times that you're uninspired, take heed & begin to realise, maybe someday you'll inspire others
ellie

BADGERS EVERYWHERE

You know it could be

I fell asleep in solace! and missed muse!

Love someone and never let them know

I found it pretty fascinating. This was just one table out of at least three, I was too busy trying to draw flowers and dragons and and hearts on various forearms to inspect the others. I think there's definitely a place for graffiti. It doesn't even have to be art. It doesn't even have to be important. Just something, from someone, sent into the world.

For more information about the Solace Tent, such as why they do what they do, check out their MySpace page :)

Quick update

Ok! Well, I've just had the most amazing weekend. I didn't go camping in the end, the weather was too bad, but for all that everything was utterly amazing. The beatboxing workshop went very well! Everybody had a great time. And Catalyst on Saturday was quality too.

For some reason, Sunday was as sunny and hot as you could hope for, which was a welcome relief from all the grey and rain we've been having. Seriously, what happened to summer?! Hahah anyway, so I am currently in a very good mood indeed. I'll post more when my brain can say more than "uhgahbuh".

Ignite

So, today started out with me being slightly irritated and concerned that I hadn't heard from Gav. I got fed up waiting around online when the weather was so beautiful, so I went outside with the intention of buying lunch and eating it in the park, reading the book he'd lent me.

Things didn't quite go to plan; I was only halfway into town when God suddenly reminded me of something I'd heard the day before about not letting the fire die. It hit home. You know, that way things sometimes do, when a little thing takes on such significance that you can't believe you missed it.

I have a vivid imagination, and it's been the case for a couple of years that I think of God's Spirit in me as a flame, flickering and wavering but always there. I started crying, right there, in the beautiful sunshine, on the way into town. I was overjoyed that God hadn't forgotten me, that I still had fire (however fragile) burning in me. That's when God started grabbing the reins of my day. He convinced me to go into the Christian bookshop, to buy a book I was recommended yesterday (something I very rarely do), and to go to a different part of the park than usual to eat.

I sat down on the grass, thoroughly happy with how everything was going, and started to read an inspirational poem in that book known as The Vision - while an orchestra that had set up opposite me played "I will follow him". I must have been reading and giggling at the sheer brilliance of it all for about half an hour. It was so perfect!

If there's one message I want you guys to take from this, it's that you must NEVER EVER let your fire fade. Be you, as beautifully and brilliantly as you can, because nobody else will ever do it as well. Live passionately, as if everything you do matters - because it really does. Love extravagantly and wholeheartedly. Whatever you do, commit everything in you to it. And I pray that I learn to do the same.

Brighton and drama

Hello! And welcome to IssueFest 2007, we'd thank you to leave your common sense at the door. Please take a seat, sit back, and enjoy the trauma...

The thing about keeping a blog is that there's two very conflicting motivations. On the one hand, I want to record everything for posterity and be completely honest with my audience. On the other, discretion is very much an issue.

Some people will tell you everything, will even conduct their lives via their blog. Others won't tell you where they work, or even their name, remaining completely anonymous. I tend to be fairly open as far as that stuff goes, and I only stop short of telling secrets that aren't mine.

Discretion and honesty is a difficult balance to keep in every walk of life. It seems that lately I've strayed too far towards keeping my mouth shut when perhaps I should be more up-front, and I may have hurt someone badly through that.

So I apologise for not being more detailed in my summary of where I've been, but the following I can tell you: the Brighton Battlejam was amazing, life's ups and downs continue like a boat on rough waters, and I remain (as ever) cautiously optimistic.

Just to clarify:

My beliefs are my own, I know my own mind, and you were NOT exactly the same as me when you were my age. RAAAARGH.

It is SO frustrating when you say the word 'Christian' and people instantly think they know better than you and know everything about you.

I put up with half an hour of being told that I was stupid, that my faith is all bullshit, and that I am brainwashed.

To reiterate: RAAAARGH.

In other news, would an "I will not sleep with you" t-shirt look arrogant? I think it probably would...

(By the way, it was open mic night, Chris sang Brown Eyed Girl again, wargh. Issues aplenty.)

Three times is a charm

When God tells you something three times in one day, you should listen.

As some of you know, I've been working this weekend with a group of Christians from Maidstone. We wrapped things up tonight with a worship session, and (just like at Catalyst on Friday) I began to cry. I just felt crap about myself. I know God treasures me and everything, and I know some would tell me different, but somewhere inside me there's still a twelve-year-old girl who's convinced she's ugly and worthless.

One of the visiting girls came to pray for me. She pulled out her bible and read Romans 8:15, which says

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

After that, she began to tell me how important it was to know what it means to be a daughter of God. Just then, another girl came over and said God had just shown her a picture of a little girl looking up at her daddy with an expression of trust and love on her face. She said how important it is that I trust God as my father, and that all I have to do is take His hand.

I've just got home, tired from a long couple of days (and quite a lot and emotionally wearing week), and trawling through the humanbeatbox.com forum, I came across Romans 8:15 again.

Maybe I'm just hormonal. I fully accept that this may be the case. But I think God might be trying to tell me something as well.

And as for the Maidstone guys: they were the kindest people you could imagine, truly warm and friendly, and we've all been very blessed to have them with us.

Unreasonably early

Well, it's yet another Monday morning and I'm up at the crack of dawn (by which I mean before 10. Be reasonable.) As some of you might know, I spend Mondays on the mainland doing a theology course called Deeper, in which I invariably lose concentration multiple times a minute and in which Matt falls asleep. We're going to resort to Red Bull today, which I've never tried before.

Seriously though, how am I supposed to stay focused?! 6 hours (including lunchbreak)of sitting behind a desk and listening to someone talk. Oh, and taking notes, just to keep it fun. The only upside is that it's all truly sound stuff that I love knowing, and the blame lies entirely with me that I don't make more of an effort. I should start going to bed earlier on Sundays.

Mondays are mad. I'm going to have to leave the house at half past 7 and I won't be back until about 11pm, because after travelling back from Southampton, I help at this thing called Soul Cafe. So it's all fun and games, everything winds to a close soon anyway, and then I'll realise how good I had it and how much I miss it. Such is life, eh ;)

Hope you're all ok, and I've got a favour to ask. Please tell me what sort of thing you'd like to read about here. I'd really love some feedback.

Another one?!

Hey guys! I know I've been blogging like a mad thing lately, not entirely sure why, but I haven't really felt like keeping a diary ever since I left it in the pub (I'm so clever.)

Anyway, this post is in recognition of the fact that I seem to have acquired a new reader!

Oh and this just in: Batman is a big gay.

Be church

I went to cell today for the first time in ages.

For those who don't know, cell group is like a bible study with socialising, theological and philosophical debate, and today cake as well.

I've missed those guys so much, they really made me realise what I was missing.

I haven't been doing too well lately. Ok I'm going to be brutally honest, I'm not super-depressed or anything, things have just been ... bad.

My mum's been diagnosed with diabetes, my dad's liver is failing, I haven't been eating properly, haven't been praying or reading my bible, haven't been to church in weeks...

And I only just realised there was a problem. But today I went to cell (with Lucy, who is back from 8 months in Africa and who is a complete blessing from God for all of us right now) and I just fell back on the network of support that, for some insane reason, I haven't been making the most of.

They're such wonderful people. And we're really secure as a group, and it really does feel like family.

So, sorry to everyone I've been weird at lately, most of it was because I was all lethargic from not eating, with any luck things will improve.

And I'd like to leave you with this thought: don't go to church, BE church. When your friends think of Christianity, they see you. Bear his name well.

Purdyful!

Look what I've found!

There are loads of stunning pictures here, check them out.