love – Victoria McGee, M.A.

“Beautiful mosaics are made of broken pieces.” ~ Lori Jenessa Nelson

Trauma, grief, anxiety, the events of our lives often leave us feeling like our soul has been fractured. We feel scattered, like shattered pieces of ourselves have been chipped away and flung helter-skelter. We are broken.

No one gets through this life without experiencing devastation and loss. It’s part of the human experience, as much as joy, love and accomplishment. That doesn’t make it any easier. How do we find the strength and courage to pick up these pieces and try to put ourselves back together?

One piece at a time.

“You are not shattered; you are a breathtaking mosaic of the battles you have won and the love that you are.” ~ Unknown

One broken piece at a time we begin to see where each piece might fit. Even as we grieve for what is no longer whole, we eventually start to try to put our life back together. Of course, what we put back together is not the same. It will never be the same. But it can become a mosaic, a new, functional creation that will have its own beauty.

In my own life, after a profound event, it’s the simple things that start to put me back together. Brushing my teeth, taking a shower. Cup of coffee? Yes, I like coffee. “I’m a person who likes coffee – ah! there’s a piece of who I am. I’ll place it here.” Here’s my cat. Yes, my cat. “I’m a person who likes cats. This piece belongs here.”

And eventually, we get to acceptance of ALL the pieces. Grief? Yes, I’ve felt deep grief. “I am a person who has grieved profoundly. Oh look – this can actually fit here, and it’s part of the whole.” Trauma? Yes, I’ve experienced trauma. “I’ve been a victim of assault. (Do I have to include this piece?) Yes, because look what other pieces fall into place because of your healing. Yes, yes, include it all!”

“We are mosaics. Pieces of light, love, history, stars. Glued together with magic and music and words.” ~ Anita Krizzan

Ultimately the mosaic, like our entire being, is a composite of our entire life, and all of our experiences! We eventually place the good pieces right next to the bad pieces, like complementary colors on the color wheel. Because this is the whole of our human experience. The key is acceptance. If we don’t accept what has happened in our lives, we continue to beat our head against a wall asking “Why?” And the only answer is “Because you are alive, and shit happens.” We are on a planet full of terrible things happening all the time. The odds are we will be affected at some point. When we are, we need to grieve, cry, be angry, feel all the feelings, but then accept; this happened. Only then can the pieces start to look like a new pattern, a new hope.

“The moment that judgement stops through acceptance of what it is, you are free of the mind. You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Constructing the mosaic of our experience is our life’s work. Sometimes we are re-shattered and must start over, and that mosaic will be different from the last, and so on until our last breath. Our souls were not made to lie scattered on the floor. Our souls were made to guide us to our healing, to our wholeness. Ask for guidance. God will show us where to start. Spirit will help us look back in awe at the mosaic of our life so far, and marvel at the beauty, the aching beauty of it.

“Hold fast to whatever fragments of love that exist, for sometimes a mosaic is more beautiful than an unbroken pattern.” ~ Dawn Powell

Victoria McGee

09/09/25

Buy me a coffee

“When to give grace? I’d rather stand before God knowing I loved others too much, than regretting I judged too harshly.” – Lysa Terkeurst

I live in America. The past ten years America has been divided, perhaps the most division since the Civil War. Neighbors turn on neighbors, family members are shunned, friends stop speaking, because of a difference of political ideologies. It can be argued that some of these ideologies are also differences in morals and principles. But the results are the same. We tear at the fabric of family and community.

But here’s something we need to remember: We are not all one thing.

I identify as a liberal. I’m definitely on the left side of the aisle. I also identify as spiritual, so I challenge myself daily to practice forgiveness, love, and grace. It’s not always easy, but when I call on grace, my eyes open in new ways.

I have beloved family members who are conservative. When I hear people say things like, “Anyone who voted for him should be shot” “Anyone who supports this administration is an idiot,” it profoundly hurts. Because I know these people. And they are not all one thing.

These people are not idiots. They are productive members of their community. They love their children and sacrifice for them. They are amazing, involved parents. They would run into a burning building to pull me out. They are funny and loving people. They gladden my heart when I see them.

Do I agree with their political choices? No. Do I like what I see this administration doing? Definitely not! But knowing these men and women, I cannot lump all conservatives into one miasma of ideology, one target of frustration and hate.

I must offer grace. And hope to receive grace in return.

“God simply keeps reaching down into the dirt of humanity and resurrecting us from the graves we dig for ourselves through our violence, our lies, our selfishness, our arrogance, and our addictions. And God keeps loving us back to life over and over.”- Nadia Bolz-Weber

God gives us grace over and over again. And we don’t have to do anything to receive it! We are all flawed and bend toward judgment and hate, but God keeps offering us grace. It is a holy gift, and we need to be more in touch with that gift. The more we notice and acknowledge it ourselves, the more we can offer it to others.

Look, the government is not going to do anything to heal our division, to open us up to the possibility that we are more alike than different. It has to come from us, from our hearts. We have to seek connection, plant those seeds and water them. I’m a writer, so I love solitude and I’m also basically shy, but this year I’ve made a solid effort to talk to everyone, smile at everyone, be kind to strangers, and it’s been so rewarding! People respond and we share a moment of connection that is beautiful! We as a people are hungering for human interaction! In person, not on a device!

Can we try to move forward not adding to the division, but trying to heal it? Can we remember that we are not all one thing? We are complex beings, making decisions out of a strange brew of life experiences, trauma, and too much information at our disposal. When we rise out of that, and truly look at another human, is it possible to offer them just a little grace?

I don’t have any answers, and I’m sure some will disagree with me, but I don’t see a way out of this that involves more hate and division. Not to say we shouldn’t get out and protest on behalf of those who have no voice, or to resist inhumane practices. But, if we want change, we have to come from a place of love, and grace, and understanding.

“To finally surrender ourselves to healing, we have to have three spaces opened up within us – and all at the same time: our opinionated head, our closed-down heart, and our defensive and defended body.” – Richard Rohr

Victoria McGee

July 26 2025

Tag: love

The Mosaic of a Fractured Soul

These Times Call for Grace