I wanted to show you the back of the mug as well as the front because I feel a bit of a philosophical moment coming on..............I want to put forward the idea that this mug represents the human condition. A bit of a leap, I know, but indulge me on this one.
We all, humans and sheep, have a front: what we can see when we look down (and in the mirror, of course); and the part at the back: what we can't see. (Lisbeth has a friend who is writing a novel based on this idea and how this awareness affects how we think of ourselves.)
However, unlike sheep, I have it on good authority that you humans are also aware of an internal landscape: an internal 'Self'. Also, that part of this inner Self can be experienced as a feeling of emptiness: Who am I? Why am I here? and so on. The space in the mug, therefore, could be said to represent this inner 'emotional void' that can haunt so many of you humans.
So I arrive at the nub of the thing. You can fill the mug with things that are good for you or things that are not so good for you. Likewise, you can feed your emotional void with activities and thoughts that are good for you or activities and thoughts that are not so good for you. You won't always see it as a choice, but that's what it is.
As Lisbeth's house-mate and Talking Practice partner I will be reminding her, the next time she uses this mug, that she has choices about what she puts inside her body as well as, and more importantly, choices about what she does for, or believes about, herself. (Assuming, of course, that she will take council from a sheep!)
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