Someone introduced a song to me this past weekend.
It made me close my eyes, fall into the sound, the lyrics, the vibrations.
It made me blossom within, open up to the journey to myself, remember who I am.
The song is called Grace by U2 (watch on YouTube – cover by Nicole Nordeman).
My relationship with my name is more peaceful now.
I used to hate my name. Grace Kim is one of the most common Korean-American female names ever. Even if I included my middle initial, it didn’t help.
Grace J. Kim.
Just another Korean girl.
Just another face.
Yes, I’ll admit, I didn’t want to be just another girl. I wanted to be something special, something worthy, something lovely, important, and cherished.
And, with a name like mine, I couldn’t seem to get anywhere.
Until I began to experience it.
Grace.
It’s the name of a girl.
It’s also a thought that changed the world.
^ That’s what U2 said.
And I agree.
I am just a girl. I am just another person.
But this thought, this idea changes the world, it changes lives, it melts hearts, and revives souls.
It creates life where there once was none.
It breathes love where there once was none.
To experience it is one of the most exquisite feelings in life, the sense that all that I am is perfect, loved, Good – when once I had believed I was nothing. The sense that I am worthy and important and valuable when once I had believed I had no purpose.
In the place of feeling like a waste of a life and person, I was brought to otherworldly fullness and contentment – as I am.
It felt so good. Because it’s so true.
I breathed the essence of the very thing I tried to run from. I learned the ins and outs, the flow of such a beautiful thing as Grace. It flowed freely, generously. There were no rules. Okay, maybe one.
It flowed to those who were ready to surrender. Only then.
And I had. I had to. And it’s been the grandest adventure of my life.
So today, I am in love with my name. I get to be called the very thing that saved my life. I get to hear it, read it, talk about it almost everywhere I go.
I get to be it. Literally.
I wanna know what you think