One night I was driving to my friend’s house when I decided ‘Grace’ would be perfect for this blog post word. “Brilliant!” my higher self, who I refer to as Julianne – whose name is a slightly fancier combination of my first and middle name, agreed with me. It was like we were two tired friends talking on the phone right at bed time, “yeah, yeah, great idea talk to you tomorrow ok… yeah bye.”
You probably won’t be surprised to know what happened next.
I fell asleep, got out of bed late and now – here I am, asking for grace for my fairly late in the day posting. It is not my style to come scrambling back here on my knees, begging to not be punished.
This would mean offering grace as a response to a form of wrong-doing, almost like forgiveness but not exactly.
Is this what we think grace means?
I realize there are many definitions and experiences of grace, from being a graceful woman – who is in my mind perpetually tall, lithe and most likely blonde – none of which describe me.
There is grace, a prayer, often spoken aloud before eating a meal.
There is grace – in the Christian tradition, that is often described as “undue favor”. Theologians will say “it is by grace we are saved, not by works.” This tenet has caused much factionalism within Christianity but I am not by any means asking for a public debate. In fact, debate in your own space, please. I am making this very simple on purpose. Grace – undue favor, a gift we are given simply because… we exist.
Prayer, Favors, Elegance and What?
There is grace, a noun, “simple elegance or refinement of movement” which snarky people may use as a nickname when someone is clumsy.
There is grace, also a noun, “courteous goodwill,” like my friend Tom’s brother, Hal, who had the grace to not mention I stepped on his toes as we danced at Tom’s wedding.”
There is grace, the verb: “do honor or credit to (someone or something) by one’s presence” which I have written on invitations. “Please grace us with your smile and RSVP”
There is also a gift or talent, an extension of time in a “grace period” and more.
Grace is, in all ways I can see, a harmonious word that may be, for some, a prickly pear.
Thank you for the Grace you offered me, in simply reading.
Right here, right now, in simply writing this – I feel filled with grace knowing these words may be read and you, the reader, may be inspired by one of these prompts to write because getting your thoughts on paper and out of your head feels good.
Maybe you will want to bookmark and use these prompts later. You may choose to join the Word-Love Writing Community on facebook (yes, it is free and the link is below to become a member) where there is a library of prompts that will fill you with this feeling of “oh my goodness, my words and thoughts are flowing and I feel so good I simply want to pass this feeling along to everyone I know.”
You may want to stow the copy and paste texts to use later. I can think of times when I wish I had thought to say these things and now, we ALL have them to use!
Your Writing Prompts for Social Media, Novel Writing, Sales, Poetry & Journaling
Copy & Paste Texts: These are to be used to surprise people or to reach out to people. You may copy, paste and send as they are or edit and morph to your situation
- Thank you for extending grace when I embarrassed myself today.
- Will you please say grace at the meeting next Wednesday?
- You were so filled with grace when we met up with ______ today! I would never have been able to pull that off!
Copywriters: Tell a story of a moment of grace your client extended to one of their customers. Show compassion, show joy and show hope for the future.
Entrepreneurs: Write about a time when someone unexpectedly extended grace to you in the beginning of your career. Use this in an upcoming speech, presentation or blog post.
Social Media Posts: Write a post seeking engagement that asks about people’s definition of gracefulness – and how to improve upon their own gracefulness.
Fiction Writers: Write a scene about one of your older characters teaching about grace to the younger characters, using any of the definitions.
Lifestyle Bloggers: Write about a grace prayer – and how your audience would either appreciate, or not appreciate, the custom.
Memoir/Life Writers: Write about a time of giving and receiving grace. Be sure to build the story to a higher note at the end rather than one that may be perceived as negative.
Poets: Use grace as a metaphor. For extra fun, write ridiculous metaphors. (I found one of those in our quotes today look below for what I mean!)
Quotes & General Prompts for Journaling and more.
“Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Prompt: When I read metaphors that make no sense to me, I wonder if it means…. (when out of steam, connect with “and” “or” and continue writing).
“I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kind of things. Also, that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace’s arrival. But no, it’s clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in the silence, in the dark.”
― Anne Lamott
Prompt: If grace and healing were easier to understand, we would….
“You deserve to be soaked to the bone with love every day of your life. The miracle of grace is that you can give what you’ve never gotten.”
Glennon Doyle
Prompt: Being soaked to the bone with love feels like……
Soaking _____ to the bone with love felt/feels like……
Be sure to write for at least five minutes on this prompt. You may have some brilliance right away AND trust me, if you write longer, thoughts will emerge from the process.
If you would like accountability, write in the comments which prompt you plan to use. If one of them speaks to you directly, tell me in the comments, too.
Thank you for reading all the way through!
Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they haven’t quite realized yet.
Julie is also the Creative Director of the Word Love Writing Community. Join us now to invigorate your writing – no matter what it is you are writing – social media posts, journaling, fiction, memoir – there will be prompts and other people there to support you. Right now, we are finishing out 2020 with 100 Days of Wonderful Words. We look forward to seeing you there.
