Grace and Curls- a twisted kinda beautiful new beginning.

I've learned a lot about radical grace in the last weeks of my life and I've learned that until recently, I don't think I ever fully understood what it was. Between the amazing preachings at Passion City, and reading an incredible book written by my sweet friend, Lynne Moyer, called 'City of Lights,' I've finally begun to grasp it deeper. I've been learning that grace doesn't just exist with God, but grace is within every human being on this planet... everyone was made in His image and everyone has that grace inside. But pulling out the grace (the deepest inner sunshine) and sharing it with others isn't always the easiest thing to do.  However, it's doable. But it's all in small (I'm talking they can be TINY) choices and decisions. Weather you're an atheist, a Christian, a spiritual Buddhist, or simply a universe lover, we all have grace. And we all have ability to use ours for the better good of the world and for all people....

Happy Fall, ya’ll! This weather this week here in Atlanta has had me in the brightest mood! It’s been blue skies and sunny, but 65-70 degrees! How perfect!? Anyhow, enough about the weather. I wanted to make a post since it’s been a little while that I’ve written, and after all, this is supposed to be 12 (full) months of sunshine! Over a month ago I wrote about intentional acts of kindness and self-love. Well I’m going to save the self-love topic for later, but I wanted to share a little about some of the intentional acts of kindness that I have been personally putting effort into, and that I’ve personally experienced from others lately. It’s been incredible and beautifully eye opening to see how many amazing things you notice around you when you’re intentionally looking for them. Simultaneously, it’s interesting how many things you notice you AREN’T doing until you gain acute awareness of them. I’m a firm believer that we are in full control of our lives and even our circ...

Well hey there strangers! It's been a couple months and I have been off the grid from writing! When I go this long without making a post it always bums me out just a little, but simultaneously makes me smile because I know it's because I've been busy and living through much hustle, bustle, and excitement! I hope those of you reading this are sitting somewhere in an environment of peace and surrounded by loving feelings. If you aren't, wherever you may be in your life today, find a way of calming your thoughts and the chaos in your life right now. Take a deep breath and give yourself a silent affirmation that for these next few minutes of reading this post, you will simply relax, and rid your mind of all outside stress that may be affecting you today.  Breathe in... Breathe out...  Think of one single thing that makes you smile.  And continue reading from here :) Sometimes life is so crazy that we truly have to remind ourselves to simply breathe! I can...

Well hey there blog reading peeps! I hope this post finds you happy and wonderful right now, wherever it may be that you are reading this. It’s been really awesome how many people have said that they haven’t seen a post from me from June yet, and now we’re already a week into July! My response has been the same, “I’ve been having too much fun to write!” Which has been 100% true! So much good has been happening in life, and it’s all come from experiences, and the people I’ve been experiencing with. When I looked back on the month of June, I was almost disappointed with myself because I hadn’t written or posted on the “theme” for that month in the originally planned “12 Months of Sunshine” series I’ve been writing. I started this blog series in hopes to benefit myself and the way I live life, and also those around me that read it! But once I really thought about the point of the series (doing more good in the world, sharing more love, kindness, and sunshine, being better so ...

Last night in an Uber ride, the driver struck up conversation that eventually lead to how he was bullied in middle and high school; how he was picked on, physically and verbally, and tormented on enough occasions that he decided to leave school and be home schooled. He eventually went back to public schools after he "stopped caring" what everyone else thought and is now in college pursuing computer science and driving for Uber as his job. "What did your friends think about all of that? Did they help you through it?" I asked him inquisitively. "Well, I didn't have any friends. There was nobody that I had as a friend except for one guy, but he was only in one of my classes one year so I didn't see him but for a brief time each day." He literally had no friends. And said even now, as an adult, he doesn't do much but school and driving; that most of his friends are only online. I happily exchanged numbers with the stranger of an Uber driv...

May is finally here. What a blessing it is that this month has come at the time in life that it has for me.  I hope and pray it's a wonderful new beginning and chapter for you in your life, wherever that may be, as well! 5 years ago, in 2013 I began a (what I like to call) mini-movement on social media called Make May Matter. The intention behind the movement was to wake every day during the month of May and intentionally seek out the good in life that made me happy; things that made my life beautiful; things that made me get out of bed and live every day. Seeking something great in each day, and posting it on facebook, Instagram, snap, twitter, or what have you, and essentially bombard social media with happy, wonderful posts about what you're living for; always with the hashtag #MakeMayMatter. And why not challenge the rest of my friends on social media to do the same with me? Thus Make May Matter was born! What would life be like if the goal of each day was to find bea...

First good news is that you've almost made it through the month of April, which means Summer is almost here! Second great news is that at the  beginning of May, most people's pools open! Woo hoo! Here's to sharing sunshine and tan lines! :) So this is another goal that's coming at y'all later in the month than planned but I've been on an incredible trip in Colorado and that's what gave me the idea to write. So this month and the goal for this last week leading up to May is Appreciation April! Throughout the course of this month, and focusing on reveling in the little moments and memories of day do day life, I've began practicing trying to appreciate and give thanks for the things I get to experience in life, be it something great or something difficult. The good things are easy to appreciate, though we often don't. Getting the sole opportunity to take off work at my leisure and take a trip to visit friends is something I am appreciative and tha...

Do you ever search for the brief moments in your day that bring you  tiny bursts of joy? Do you ever revel in memories with people or at  places you love; thinking about them or talking about them for a  series of minutes until you feel like you’re back in time visiting  that special place, smiling at that special loved one, or laughing  over something completely random that you and your best friend only  understand? Do you ever make conscious efforts to really truly seek  out memories and moments that make your world keep turning every  day…the memories and moments that make you wake up and face a new day  in an ever broken and dark world that we live in. If you don’t, think  about trying to. What ways would your life change? What new realities  would you embrace? What new bliss would you begin to find in your day  to day life? I’ve been making strong conscious efforts to do this,  especially since starting this blog and ...

I cannot believe it's taken me this long to get a post on this bad boy for March! Honestly, it's because this month has been filled with fun and excitement and too many moments of memory making! Since my time having fun has distracted me from writing much this month, I figured what better way than to have this (last week) of this month of March be focused on memory making and moments with people you love! I know that work and stress and life can surely get in the way of "making memories" or "finding sunshine in tiny moments" but honestly I feel like it's a necessary part of life and human happiness. I know a lot of people that are constantly stressed with work or family issues and so many times these are things out of their control. Most of the time when we're in those stressful situations, we don't realize that. It's important to accept that the only thing we have control over in our lives is ourselves and the choices we make; literally...