Grace

I know there are people, right now in this moment, who believe that life is meaningless. And, I've had moments when I feared they could be right. At the same time, it's undeniable to me that everything that's meaningless is also meaningful. We give life meaning. And when we don't give life meaning, it becomes meaningless.

Every now and then, I go through periods when I ask myself: what's the point of art? Art doesn't change that people hurt each other, that people get sick, that people die, etc. And if I'm being honest with myself, I don't truly believe that anything will change that pain is a part of life. Yet, I also know that art doesn't need to change a thing about the facts of existence to give us grace and make life better.

What do many of us do when our hearts hurt? We listen to sad songs. The sad songs don't change the existence of heartbreak. Instead, maybe they remind us that we are nowhere near the first human being to cry or feel crushed by something. And somehow, the reminder helps and making an hour even a little bit easier can mean a whole lot in those rough, rough moments. What is more meaningful than the fact that we as humans can feel completely awful and a song can make the passage of time during periods of hardship even a touch easier? What is more meaningful than the fact that, sometimes, sadness can be really beautiful? What is more meaningful than the contrast between pain and joy? What is more meaningful than the ebb and flow of emotions?

Grace is a soft place to land between waves of grief. Trauma taught me to fear, but grace taught me that I am fully capable of doing what scares me. Trauma taught me to blame myself, but grace taught me to believe in myself and the possibilities of simply being alive. Trauma taught me to avoid the truth and grace taught me that there is no truth too heavy for me to bear once I'm ready to know it.

About the Into the Light collection

No matter how big the grief, I can't help but recognize again and again this incredible fact: there is something gentle and sweet just beyond the deepest heartbreak. When I let go of judgement and cease all the watching-myself-from-the-outside and I finally allow myself to speak freely or to let my tears ring out raw and true, I feel connected to this pure, bittersweet power. In those moments, I fear nothing. There is only that one moment and a sense of oneness with the truth.