To Grace, Accept or Embrace

Embrace

Embrace Self, Friends, the Not So Friendly and Those Different from You

I was contemplating about providing a SoulCollage® workshop on “Grace”. This was a term I had grown up with and the meaning of graciousness appealed to me. However, as I looked more deeply into the meaning of “grace” it didn’t represent the concept I wanted to explore.

 When I give Grace to someone, I shower them with “undeserved favor”. I come from a one-up position giving them something they don’t deserve but I “grace” them with it anyway.

So, I explored “Acceptance”.

·      When I accept someone, it can be “you be you and I’ll be me, it’s all good”.

·      When I accept someone, it can be “your behaviors, values and opinions are accepted by me, they don’t ruffle my feathers.”

·      When I accept someone, it can be “I won’t judge you.”

However, when I “Embrace” someone metaphorically and/or physically:

·      I celebrate who they are and shower them with unconditional love.

·       I hold them to my heart and give of who I am to who they are.

·      I not only accept you but I take you into my heart.

·      I envelope you with my whole being with acceptance and love.

Embrace is a lot! It is not simple. It comes at great cost. It is a free gift.

My dad lives in MN and I live in OR so we don’t see each other very often and he is 100 years old! When we do have the opportunity to see each other, he embraces me with everything that he is, his whole 100-year-old self-wraps me in his arms and I am engulfed with love and acceptance without judgment or questioning. Heart chakra to heart chakra we are engulfed in each other’s love.

I find it easy to embrace a friend or someone I love. But can I:

·      embrace those not so friendly?

·      embrace myself in that same way? Totally shower myself with an embrace that says I love you unconditionally, just the way you are.

·      Can I embrace those who are different from me, different values, different ideologies, different anything? Can I embrace the differences I come up against.

Join me in this new three-part workshop series as we explore the concept of embracing, what it means, what it costs. We will be using our SoulCollage® decks to explore the impact of embracing ourselves and others.

            Embracing Self – Wednesday March 20th, 2024

Embracing Friends and Those Not So Friendly – Thursday April 4th, 2024

Embracing Those Unlike Me – Thursday April 18th, 2024

Virtual Workshop 11:00 am to 1:00 PM PT