*I understand that I am writing from a place of privilege to have had access to the acceptance and grace I am talking about today*
On this eve of Mother’s Day weekend (at least in our corner of the world), I want to take some time to discuss our theme here on Creating Confidently this month: Grace. Why bring Mother’s Day into this, you may ask?
Grace is usually ascribed to being the unmerited gift of intervention (often divine) for one’s salvation - who has offered this precious gift more times than our mothers? Always when we are least deserving of a second chance, of a kind word or understanding our moms lean down and give us a hug, a sympathetic ear, a quirk of the eyebrow that says they already know the truth of the matter, so the next words out of our mouths had better be the truth. These second chances, these moments of unwarranted forgiveness are given out in the name of grace from those who love us as only a mother can.
In history the word was used to denote those of high social status; the queen or those of the dukedom for example, because of their believed appointment to that role by the divine. It came to describe attributes as well, such as good manners, gentle temper and fluidity of movement, all gifts from that universal source of wonder and awe. Dancers, who were described as being “the athletes of God” by Martha Graham are thought to be the epitome of grace and poise. Why can we admire this quality of grace in rulers, dancers and those of genteel nature, but not within the realms of our own creativity?
Is our creativity not also a gift from the universal divine? Is our creative life not a second chance to understand ourselves, emotions and our world? To give the world we live in grace by seeing its beauty and acknowledging its despair, to repair the wrongs done and reflect the new beginning within us all. To come humbly, with open hearts and clear minds to our creativity is to extend the grace we receive to our own art and by extension, ourselves.
When we create we must give ourselves grace; whether that is grace for being away from our creativity, for the growing pains within the craft, for struggling to find our calling, or even for letting ourselves down when we fail to show up; something I have been doing a lot of lately. Let’s all take a page from our mothers’ book and give ourselves the same grace to learn who we are as creatives and make space for second chances. Our mother's have always made the space for us to be who we are, why can we not do that for ourselves? This Mother's day thank the mom in your life for the grace she has given you.
Giving ourselves grace always seems to be one of the hardest thing to do.