REVERB13 (Day #17): Seeking GRACE in 2014

2013, THE YEAR OF THE MOTHER (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah for a specially selected word that serves as a GUIDE for a period of a year! Hallelujah for the word, MOTHER, that I chose for guidance in 2013, and for the word, GRACE, that will direct me in 2014!

For today's REVERB13 (Day #17) prompt from Kat McNally is this:

What word did you select to be your traveling companion in 2013? What gifts did this word bring? What word will you choose to guide you through 2014? What do you hope it will bring into your life?


Dear Reader's I have blogged extensively about my ambitions for the word, MOTHER, in REVERB12 (here) and eight months later in August Moon (here). It was a wondrous word and served me well so read my previous blogs if you are in any way curious!

My one regret related to this guiding word, MOTHER, is that I have not yet succeeded in completing the manuscript for the book of images and words that has been in progress for several years now. Entitled, THE MOTHER IN ME, it is about each of us (women and men) learning to access that archetypal mother in our psyches, developing a relationship with her, and nurturing ourselves inside that relationship. What a kind and gentle world we would all live in if we could LOVE and NURTURE ourselves!

WELCOMING MY WORD FOR 2014!:

GRACE
  
Let me define GRACE in the way I plan to have it guide me! I'm using GRACE in the context of Cynthia Winton-Henry's InterPlay and as I read about it in her and Phil Porter's book, What the Body Wants.

First of all, GRACE is the opposite of STRESS! And GRACE can be found in the body, our environments, and people in those environments! We just need to be present and aware to experience GRACE. Cynthia Winton writes about GRACE:

SEEKING GRACE I. In 2014, I will be seeking the GRACE, especially from the presence of a cat on my head!  (Selfie by Hallelujah Truth)

"It is surprisingly easy to overlook things that offer the physicality of grace: music, dance, stillness, nature, making love, art, gardening, singing, being with those I love, pets, getting organized, creating with and for others, and really playing; all in favor of focusing on problems. Had I known early on what I know now, I might not have worked so hard to find grace or to solve all my problems and to heal wounds I discovered in myself. Now I know that grace is nature's intention for us. Instead of being elusive, grace infuses life; it is intrinsic to every organism in its natural order, including our own." 

ACTION PLAN FOR SEEKING AND FINDING GRACE (summarized from the book, What the Body Wants):

1. Choose GRACE (the opposite of stress) whenever possible

2. Notice GRACE when it appears in my life and expand that GRACE
3. Share my GRACE with others by naming people, activities, places, and experiences that bring me GRACE regularly.

4. Seek GRACE HEROES--those individuals who bring me GRACE through their love, actions, words, and passion.
5. Document the GRACE in my life, creating a record to hold and remind me of the presence and physicality of GRACE.
6. Experience personal freedom from GRACE I find in my life
7. Make the world a better place for others through the freedom I find in GRACE. 

SEEKING GRACE II. In 2014, I will be practicing "A Year to Live" with my friend and fellow spiriatual art pilgrim, Cecelia Kane. I am seeking GRACE in this exploration of living my life fully as if it were the last. (Selfie by Hallelujah Truth. People often ask me where my images originate from. Cat hat, or the image I drew above, comes from my domestic bliss with a household of two cats.)

That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG  with me about the word you will select to guide you in 2014!