Initially, I struggled personally to differentiate humility from grace or graciousness. Then, it clicked. Humility strikes me as how we view and carry ourselves in the world. Grace reflects how we interact with and treat others in the world. Though, I also suppose we need to account for giving ourselves grace, so I am still figuring it out fully this cycle.
Grace has been defined as the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.
-William Hazlitt
Are you able to show grace? What does that say about the current state of your soul? I recently shared a term I love at the end of a yoga class – wahe guru. As I left the studio, another participant asked me what I said and then what it meant. It is rote knowledge for me at this point, so I rattled it off without much thought. There was little to no grace in my delivery, and I have been kicking myself for that moment quite a bit ever since. I was gifted with an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite things, yet I did not slow down and invest mindful energy and attention to fervently connect with someone gracefully.
The law demands what it cannot give; grace gives all it demands.
-Blaise Pascal
My mind now connects to one of the sarcastic phrases you may hear people toss around – “so glad you could grace us with your presence.” While it is also painful to recognize the corrupted usage of it, the expression does illuminate how presence becomes a requirement for grace. Are you in the right mindset and focus to be gracious? While I recently saw a glaring weak point in one of my interactions, it also shows me where to focus next for further self-improvement. I will graciously work on correcting my misstep.
For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at [their] smile.
-Elie Wiesel
I think the Toltecs would consider grace to be the essential flair that life as an art form asks for and possibly even demands. We can only dance through moments gracefully when we are mindfully present and consciously kind. That kind of approach feels very ideal to me. Why rush through so many precious moments, inconsiderate of everything?
Grace pours all beauty into the soul… the soul means the world.
-Meister Eckhart
I’m becoming more and more myself with time. I guess that’s what grace is. The refinement of your soul through time.
-Jewel Read
As we rediscover a natural pace to life, I believe we will reestablish a graceful flow to how we live and interact with all things. If we do not feel graceful in a given moment, then that should serve as a key indicator that something should change. We receive a nudge to flow more freely with fewer judgments and attempts at controlling everything. Are you refining yourself with self-improvements, or are you gracelessly glowering?
Maybe it is wise. Maybe it is dumb. Time will tell.