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How I Got from Gratitude to Grace

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cooltext443860173_ive-been-thinking

about gratitude.

I understand the power of the words, thank you.
I understand them so deeply that as a child I was afraid to say them.
I would watch how some people use them frivolously, I was afraid that people wouldn’t hear how much I meant them.
I was afraid they wouldn’t see in my eyes or hear in my voice that I meant them.
I feel the words, thank you, like a frog hears, deeply from his tiny ears into his lungs.

As I considered Thanksgiving, I thought it’s time I learned more about what powers those words.

I did a search for the etymology of the word, gratitude, and found myself wandering through a world of connections.
Our word gratitude may have from the 15th Century Middle French word, gratitude which means “good will.” If it came from the Latin word gratus which means “thankful, pleasing,” it’s a cousin to the word grace.

Good will.
Thankful.
Pleasing.
Grace.

In some families, grace is a prayer.
In some, it’s a ritual and a tradition.
Some have chosen it to name a child.

But when I saw that word, grace, … it was all of those and more.

Grace …
Immediately my mind heard music, my heart saw this photo, which has been a friend since 2006.

grace

So I went looking for the word, grace, in my own writing.
It appears twice in these ways …

… I wish for my friends to be around me. I wish for the courage to face where I’m going, to know what I know — that I’m unprepared for what I’ll be doing. … Then I breathe. Then I breathe. Then I breathe once more…. I ask permission without words, but through the grace and gentleness of my movement. I ask for faith from sky and angels who are everywhere. I need the wisdom of one who has conquered fear. … Inside the fear is the graceful wisdom I was seeking. —The Rhythm of the Rowing

and

Head and heart together. Head and heart – it took so long to know.
When head and heart come together life is a dance.
Head and heart together . . .
grace. — Head and Heart Together

I wandered back through my life to find a conclusion. I wrote it years ago, but only realized it now.

Thank you is best offered filled with trust — breathing in life without fear.
With grace and gentleness, head and heart come together in gratitude.
That’s how I got from gratitude to grace.

Wishing you your family and friends around you.
May you move in gratitude and grace.

Be irresistible.

Liz's Signature

How to Write Intelligently from the Heart

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From the Heart

Words tell us how to . . . how to be beautiful, how to fall in love, how to make money by working online. Words try to move us to be happier, be greener, be more active in someone’s cause. Words us connect with each other. Words appraise us, explain us, and help us describe who we are. Words are how we find out what we need to know.

Yet there are far more words to read than there is time.

We can think and write. We can craft our sentences to be clever. We can make sure that each part is factually, structurally, gramatically correct. But clever and accurate only go so far in satisfying readers. If we want our writing to resonate long after, our words need to come from the heart.

How to Write Intelligently from the Heart

Intelligent heartfelt writing is respectful. It serves minds and hearts. It strikes a balance of logical thinking in the context of meaningful words. Here are some tips on how to bring together the best of your head and your heart when you write.

  • Know you want to say Distill your message down to one sentence.
  • Decide why you care about it. If you don’t care about what you’re saying, why should I?
  • Use simple words to describe your experience or argument. Choose words that you would actually say.
  • Write for an audience you respect and care about. Love your dissenters and detractors. Doing so will give your writing life and depth.
  • Write the whole piece entirely before you edit. A message from the heart still being formed won’t survive the scrutiny of a brain.
  • Revise it twice. Read once for logic and sense of what you’re saying. Read a second time — this time aloud — for the tone, voice, and words you’re using to say it.
  • Be willing to put yourself into what you write. Be authentically you. Show us what you see.

Writers who capture our attention share the experience of who they are. They connect with our minds and with our hearts. Great writers blend information, thoughts, and opinions with a light touch of humanity. It’s the in the humanity that we see ourselves. Head and heart together in writing for love, for business, for education, for any purpose make meaning in a way that intelligent words alone cannot.

Heart on the water

It’s the heart of light in this photo that makes this one sunset unforgettable.

How do you recognize someone who writes with heart?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your writing, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Let Go

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No Strings, No Pain

hand releasing blue balloon

I had this thought.

What if we all let go?

What if we let go

. . . the ribbons and the strings?

What if we laid down

. . . the burdens and the pains?

Then . . . could we hold each others’ hands?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Head, Heart, and Sailboats

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I’ve been thinking about head, heart, and sailboats.

Head and heart. Some days I like one more than the other. Some days it’s smarter to think. Some days I find it’s better to follow where my feelings lead me.

On days I am my head, I make my life about the work. I can perfectly clear my desk. I can venture forth with the most elegant strategic plan. Be ready to think quickly, if you take me on. I’m not as one-dimensional as some folks might have you think. After all, not everyone gets complimented quite this way by a friend.

I’ll analyze a problem to reach a brilliant, logical solution . . . in seconds flat. When I do, no person will be within the range of my 20/40 vision. I’ll see the people, sure, but they’ll be human data in the thinking chain.

No wonder I get headaches.

On days I am my heart, I can make my life about the people and beauty of the world. I see the wonder of a smile that fills a voice when a person discovers a new thought. I see the sun rise in glorious colors that make a sky no artist could possibly paint. The options and ideas assault me joyously like water falling as I stand laughing at the the marvel of being alive and drenched.

I imagine away bad weather and fill a hall-full glass half-again over the top. I can hear a symphony in my head and when I want I can make it go away. I can stop time, stress, and bad things me too. Generosity is without thinking. Life is magical.

Of course, the without thinking part is a bit of problem now and then.

On the days I am both, I lean from head to heart and back. I let my life tell me when to list which way.

Sailboats that list in concert with the wind have grace and flexibility, even in a rough storm. Sailboats that lean too far take on water. That’s wrong there. The water is supposed to stay beneath the boat . . . in the sea.

Head and heart together is balance, part holding on and part letting go. Lean too far toward one and the connection won’t work. It’s like sailing — the wind has some control. When I lose my trying and self-consciousness to make room for life, a day becomes adjusting my sails with the wind.

This weekend I’m going to be a sailboat.

Head and heart has to be lived to be learned.

Liz