It’s June 30th, and in theory it’s my last application of grace. I’ve been writing about this source of energy, kindness, and understanding for 5 months, with a new post every 10 days. I’ve learned a lot about how to see life through the window of grace. And it’s time to give myself some, too:…
Writing
Grace and emancipation – here or ever?
In religious contexts, grace is sometimes in the same conversation with freedom: ‘grace will set you free’ and ‘by grace, you have been saved’ are both in the Bible. And when I think of freedom, I consider some huge, game-changing words. Emancipation. Liberation. Removal from restrictions. In addition to some religious questions, I also dive…
Grace when life feels empty
It’s June 10th, and therefore the beginning of the end of applying each letter of grace to different themes of my life. I have some ideas for post-June grace writings, as grace is my word for 2022, but it still feels like the (almost) end. Is there grace in endings? Endings remind me things are…
Grace is simply celebrating the moment
I slide into my sneakers, and leave the phone, headphones, keys in my room. I run, aiming for 3 miles, not for time, but for distance without technology. Without a soft vibration, notifying me it’s so-and-so’s birthday, or another email received, or a typical Monday to-do. I know it’s dangerous leaving without a phone on…
Why wait: writing routine with a chair?
I wake, work, run, read, and rest. All regular routines, my pace has quickened, for both hobbies of reading and exercising. These are practices. I’m leaning into a writing routine, with help from a cozy chair, gifted from another writer. Guiding a physical space for writing. I currently lounge on this cushioned throne, right next…
Grace takes courage
It’s May 20th: hail has shifted to snow. My space heater whirs to life. (I wore a dress and sandals yesterday.) I’ve been writing letters, sipping elderberry tea all night. None of these are quite like my picture of Colorado when I considered moving here a year ago. And yet. It’s been an evening of…
Why Wait: Writing to Self
Today’s weekly “writing about writing” is short and sweet, asking a couple qs, and responding with affirmations. How am I writing about myself, for and to myself? (And so, this post is really for me, present and future!) How am I honoring my experiences, past, present, and what’s to come? How can I release the…
Why wait? What did I write before?
In 5th grade, Mrs. Burgess gave us an assignment to “write a story.” I don’t remember the plot, but my characters were two friends struggling with post-WW2, one of whom lost a dad in the war. They talked on tin can phones. I remember Mrs. B told me, “I made the characters very real.” That…
Giving grace to my inner child through compassion and celebration
May 10th is brought to you by the letter C of grace! How fitting to use a Sesame Street reference, because childhood’s been on my mind. Perhaps because it was just Mother’s Day. Or maybe I’m recognizing a need for self-care through compassion and celebration. So onto the first C! Was grace part of my…
Why Wait? Writing about Choice
It’s wild to think about, but only a week ago, I wrote the following: I want to share what I’ve learned about opting in and out via book: I have decided to opt out of parenting It was the first thing I shared on a laundry list of choices, ranging from health to academia to…