Circle of life

Soon after we decided to move to China, I remarked on the irony that a girl who got a Chinese character tattoo at age 19 would spend age 39 trying to find a way to conceal it while living in China. Maybe it is ironic or maybe it is just another example of how all things in my life come full circle.

There is an uncanny way that my life comes back to somewhere it once was. After all, I married a high school friend 11 years after we met. Or the fact that my boss when editing photography books was one of my former students. Or the reality that I set up my married life in a little town that housed one of my greatest failure as an adult. Things I used to mock are now causes of great joy. And I could go on... I do my best not to burn bridges because who knows when I will need to cross them again.

So today I move to  China. Who knew? Maybe I should have.  All of my experiences, successes, failures, and shortcomings are never farther away than tomorrow.

Twenty years ago I opted for a Chinese character that meant strength. The strength that I will need to secure a happy life in China surely will have little to do with overcoming a fear of needles-- as was the motivation for the tattoo to  begin with-- rather it is a strength of adjusting to the inevitable changes life brings. It is strength in trusting in God. It is the strength in trusting in my own ability to zealously embrace the craziness that resides over the next hill. It is a strength that has been culled in me over my entire life.

The irony is I never needed that tattoo. I believe I've had the strength all along.

We will just have to wait and see.