Take Me Back Dance Video

As I was walking home one day, this song came on Spotify. I'd never heard it before and it really touched me. I started seeing me dancing by the River in a yellow dress. I saw some bits of choreography. As this came to my mind, I grew excited and more joyful, thinking about movement and the meaning of the song. I decided that I was going to capture this almost daily occurrence of "day dreams," inspired by music or sound or light or just an idea and how it effects me. I become more joyful and praise filled in the present moment, as ideas, sometimes abruptly, flash in and out of my mind. This video is a, albeit simple, glimpse into my mind and heart- with a message that hopefully inspires others to dream and break out of the box. Express hope and love through the creative vessel you are meant to be!

https://youtu.be/Yv9sy9WTDxU

New Photography Website!

I'm excited to have just made a photography website. It's nothing too elaborate, and I am by no means a professional photographer. However, I enjoy the art and story of photography and the concepts behind shots. (I'm all about a good metaphor-although I do just enjoy literal shots as well. Most of the shots I have are literal) I also just love capturing beauty. I don't have a good camera, though I'm grateful for what I do have. But hopefully one day soon I'll upgrade. Anyways, hope you enjoy some of my view of the world!

http://graceviews.pixieset.com/

writing on a favorite idea....

As I’m embraced, enfolded, my veins still transport my blood that keeps me alive. Internally, has anything really changed? Cells still tell me to breathe. But now I know the blood is there. Flowing, alive and awakening and comforting. I don’t want it to stop, and my internal organs feel safe.

The power of being held.

That embrace? It just told me you want to be closer to me-either that or you feel obligated to. Closer. Tight. Together. This body, though it cannot control my spirit, is my container for what keeps me alive and wanting for more life, more spirit oxygen.

Let me be plural: The body is precious to people, whether they realize it or not. People will instinctively guard their body, reflexes taking charge when unwanted invaders come close. Small scoots to the side to avoid the awkward light brush of a stranger’s physical being. There is power given to whom we give the honor of holding us close. There is also power in the exchange of the hold. This is an exchange of trust, an exchange of vessels not being ships in the night, but tethering themselves together, partners in the internal world of care and the external world of action based upon this care. 

God speaks to Israel in Isaiah 41 telling the people that he will hold them in His right hand. God wants His presence to be known, to be “felt.” The power of Christ in us is just that, He is with us. Yaweh is not afar off. Creator God’s Spirit is in an eternal embrace with ours. Yet even here we have a choice to receive the hold, this intimate of intimate tethering.

How many times have people been in the same physical space and felt worlds apart? A hold acknowledges the other person’s being- a holder takes time to give, give those muscles, bones, skin, and give that wave of emotion that says “connect me, connect me!” The holder takes time to take as well. To take in another individual, to breathe so close she could catch the other’s breath. This is not something shared by strangers, well, perhaps if you’re on a crowded subway, but there is no intentional hold with this, and if there is, that’s when security is called.

Security. Because a hold from an ill-intentioned person is powerful. It’s powerfully scary. It’s powerfully invasive. The security of being held lies in the trust between the individuals. Because we all know to be held is to be vulnerable.

There is power in holding and being held by another person because there is an effect. Mind, spirit and body are given the chance to flow in rhythm. In that holding moment, once people commit, there’s nowhere else to go! The mind can drift to thinking of other things, but the body print will be there, the hearts are one step closer to each other’s beat. And intentional holds of care can bridge the gap between mind and heart. 

When we think of being held, we think of being loved. Because no one wants to be held while being unloved. This is called abuse. And it’s shaken many people to the core. Because abusive holds are so full of parading knowledge of someone’s being over him or her.

 Knowledge of another person’s being through pure motivations of giving and care and want for connection shoots adrenaline into our souls. In this place of being held with love we realize, this is what we’ve needed all along. This inner power gain, of confidence and self-love, through the acceptance and affectionate care of another being, brings peace to our cells and tells us “right now, everything is alright.” We are empowered through the hold to indeed hold ourselves in higher esteem.

The power of being held is also in the sacredness of the act. The amount, duration, and type of hold differs, as our trust and relationship differs with each human we interact with. Some holds are spontaneously powerful, a moment of exchange that will never happen with that person again. Tragedy brings these types of holders together, as does great rejoicing. Then there are holds that are expected, anticipated, approached with joy and relief. Here is where he or she purposes in the heart: I know this person and this hold are the ones I’ve chosen to affect me the most.

When we feel held and embraced by God’s presence we can say like the psalmist, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.” (Ps. 4:8) For God’s hold is the hold of pure love every heart and mind longs for at the end of each day.

To be held is not always to be loved, but to be loved is to be held with a fierce gentleness that transcends body and washes over mind and spirit. God does this perfectly, yet God is not here in physical form. So, Yaweh, our Creator, the One in who’s image we were created, allows us to feel this fierce, caring love through our fellow human beings. A pure hold never lets go. Though the arms untwine, the spirit remains alive, and what was held in the soul is protected in the safe space of our inner sanctuary, where rust and moths cannot destroy. The treasure of our trusting holding of one another will be stored in heaven, as God delights in the purity of our exchange. 

The power of being held.