Most of you already know i'm a contributing author in the new book 365 Moments of Grace (365 Book Series) (Volume 2) if you follow me on Facebook you know that. It's pretty clear i'd say. ;) But for our 365 moments of Grace blog tour i wanted to share a recent moment of Grace that i experienced a few days ago, that was very beautiful to me. Here it is...
Grace in the Grass
I have recently been feeling very sad and depressed, and as you know it's always hardest to feel gratitude during times of grief, even if you know how important it is to do so. The sadness adds a gray tinge to everything. To find some type of peace amidst my sadness, i decided to do something creative to try and feel better.
So i went outside in the backyard to paint. Art and nature can be so healing. I laid a sheet down in the grass to sit on and to put my canvases and paints on. As i was painting, my partner came outside with our dog Grace. He sat on a chair near my painting sheet and read his book and Grace sat in the grass. It was a beautiful day so i wanted to try and let the beauty and peace of the day permeate my state of mind.
After i got done painting i decided to lay down on the sheet and let the warm breeze glide over me as i looked up at the sky. My eyes were fixed on the top of the trees, they looked like they were moving and it was so strange. But a second later i realized i had my eyes focused on the trees and the clouds were moving fast, so it appeared it was the trees moving rather than the clouds. Just a silly optical illusion. That's just how the perception of life works it seems. We see things depending on what our focus is on and that isn't always the full Truth, it's just an "optical illusion". That is what i knew my current sadness to be, just an optical illusion. I sensed the power of peace lingering in the background, it just felt a little further away than usual.
So then i fixed my eyes on the clouds and i saw a cloud that looked like an Angel. How magical of my perception right? I was beginning to see more sweetness in the world. Not that it hadn't been there before, but i just focused in on it more in that moment, so i was able to experience it in that way.
I took out my phone to try and take a picture of the Angel cloud and then it was gone. I should have known that would have happened considering how fast the clouds were going that day. There was something about not capturing the cloud on camera that touched my heart too. It made me think of how fleeting beautiful things in life are and how sometimes you just have let yourself be immersed in the magic of a moment, and you can't always have "proof" of the experience other than the feeling of it.
I started feeling more hope and felt very content laying there looking up at the sky. Then I looked next to me and thought, "this is what life is about". It's about sitting quietly outside with someone painting or reading and Grace( the dog or the state of feeling ;)) laying in the grass nearby. Maybe i have just been complicating everything lately.
Life is complicated yes, but it is also simple too, and sometimes just focusing on what is sweet and simple is a good way to help change our perception to peace. <3
Some of you may know i have had some serious fears around sharing my voice whether that is speaking, singing or even writing, but especially when it comes to public speaking i do. The story that i shared in the book is called "Amazing Grace" and it is about how i experienced a moment of Grace as i spoke in front of a group of people at my first book signing event. It was a truly humbling and life changing experience for me. If you would like to read that or any other stories of Grace you can get that here 365 Moments of Grace (365 Book Series) (Volume 2)
My Journey with the collaborative 365 book series has been a huge part in the continual unfolding of expressing a more empowered voice in my life.
Grace has been a theme in my life this year in many areas and i'm always looking to cultivate more Grace into my life in all ways. Grace is an abstract term but i believe the full experience of what Grace can be, is expressed beautifully in all the different stories in this book. It has brought me a lot of comfort and inspiration to read it.