“Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself.” – Soren Kierkegaard
I will never forget the first time I found out that I was to be published in Bella Grace Magazine, not only because it was a significant achievement for an unknown writer like me … but also because I was at a bit of a low point. It was in 2015, my husband was in graduate school, I was working full time and writing a lot, we had two small kids, and I decided to sacrifice what little I could to just barely “keep up.”
Sleep.
It turns out this was a very bad idea. It lead to exhaustion, anxiety, and heart palpitations that ended me up in the ER. It was right after I started to reclaim the essential parts of my life (like rest, the joy of giving yourself a minute, the necessity of learning how to say no, etc.) that I received word that I was accepted to write for Bella. It felt like the best gift … like a metaphorical symbol that I was headed in the right direction and life was offering me something beautiful for finally, “getting it.”
Even now, five years later, I still get that same joy. Every time I have the honor of seeing my words printed on these thick, image-rich, story-lined pages – my heart skips in the best … slow down and savor kind-of-way. I fell in love with this magazine as a reader, and like the quote says above, love has altered me, so that every time I write, I think, with profound gratitude, of what that tired, unwound version of me would need to hear. I think about what would bring her calm … what would ease her too-filled mind.
I believe Bella Grace Magazine is a tonic for the weary spirit in all of us, and every time … all the time … I am grateful to be on both sides of her pages.
All my love,
Elle
this quotable life 