Seeing Life Through a Lens of Goodness
I believe in loving this One Amazing Life we get.
-Ella AnnWelcome to A Glimpse of Goodness - a space to feel encouraged, understood and seen
Read on for More of My Story…
About A Glimpse of Goodness
I created A Glimpse of Goodness as a quiet space to honor both the tender and the beautiful parts of life. If you’ve ever known the heartache of loss or felt overwhelmed by life, I can understand because I've been there — and to be honest, I live there, daily.
My own story has included deep loss and pain, the kind that rearranges your entire world. However, I found that within that pain it’s possible to unearth incredible personal fortitude and even discover unexpected gifts.
These gifts have the power to change how you see the world, your life and yourself.
For me this new way of seeing life has become a path to deeper peace and understanding.
On this side of it, where I now stand, I see so much beauty in the ordinary, in what remains. And I have witnessed the unwavering strength of the human heart as well — a heart created to seek goodness and light.
My hope here is to share that vision with you so that you may catch glimpses of goodness that are ever present in your life — even amongst the difficulties.
I hope you leave here feeling more inspired and hopeful.
Reminding you that a beautiful life is The One You Have
At it’s core, A Glimpse of Goodness is about noticing the beauty and goodness all around and within you.
What You’ll Find On the Blog
Inspiration to Live More Aware
A Voice That Encourages
Stories Rooted in Understanding
Reflections on Peace and Resilience
As Well as Glimpses into -
Healing My Body
Growing My Garden
My Love of Watercolor
Living Through Loss
and more
The Road That Led Me Here
A Glimpse of Goodness has been a long time coming, and I’m glad to finally be here.
After living through years of loss and heartache, I’ve gleaned some wisdom, along with the perspectives I now hold — and want to share. Loss and heartache are powerful teachers and they impart wisdom and insight like nothing else can — I know many of you understand this well.
Like all of us, the road that led me to where I now stand has been full of twists and turns.
There are so many wonderful and beautiful seasons filled with love, light and laughter. I cherish those times and the memories, and how they warm my heart and always bring a smile to my face.
They are priceless, and most times we simply cannot understand just how priceless.
My life has also been filled with tremendous loss and heartache — what feels like a seemingly disproportionate amount. For many years I felt like I was wading through through quicksand — aimless, scared and desperately scanning the horizon for any reference point I could cling to. I’m not sure how, but I kept walking and reaching forward — and by sheer and utter Grace, I stand here today.
Let me say right away — I share these parts of my story so that others might find hope or understanding, as well as to know that I am someone who has fought for every step and every lesson.
My message around hope and beauty isn't pie-in-the-sky, feel-good words. It is my true reality, it is what I believe about life and the importance of not missing it, even after great suffering — especially after great suffering.
I want the Heart behind the blog to be known.
It’s deeply personal and deeply important to me. Sharing our experiences and what we’ve learned along the way is how we heal.
Healing requires authenticity — and authenticity requires vulnerability. This is why I’m sharing pieces of my story here — and because the “how I got here” matters.
As I mentioned, I’ve known loss throughout my life — it’s part of the human story, yes. But in recent years, and within a short span of six months I lost both of my parents. Three years later I lost my beautiful daughter — and three months after losing her I lost my sweet Sophie — my constant companion of eleven years.
Following the loss of my daughter I also lost almost every relationship and role that made up my identity as I knew it — and I was facing all of this largely alone. It felt like too much for a person to bear.
Understandably, I felt completely untethered from life, from myself, from reality — for years. I often describe it like walking though a debris field, completely disoriented and bewildered. Everywhere I looked all I could see were shattered pieces of what once made up my life. It was unfathomable to me that this was my reality.
But I held on. I held on to Life itself — for dear Life.
The road ahead of me was treacherous and unbearably painful, but I kept walking.
As time passed, I began to discover a deeper love for myself, accompanied by a softening — and I learned to pour Grace and understanding over my own heart and over all those I love so dearly —
this began to change things.
Slowly, truths and new realizations took root in me, and within them I found glimpses of peace and freedom. I also found an even deeper love and reverence for life, and all the goodness that was still around me.
This new way of seeing has been a lifeline for me. On days that feel empty, or I feel lost and adrift, noticing the good, noticing beauty — it softens it all.
For example: simply watching Maizie run and play shows me such perfect goodness that still remains in this world.
This I where I stand now — side-by-side with a heartache that will never leave me and a beauty so deep I could never escape it.
I’m so keenly aware that I get to see all of this — and so do you! Cherish it, cradle it, protect it — and most of all celebrate it. Celebrate your life, in even the smallest of ways.
I am still learning and finding my through, but I want to offer what I’ve learned thus far and how I see things. I want to speak about the beauty that remains, and was truly always there — and about everyday life in it’s ordinary rhythms and the goodness it holds.
I want to celebrate simple things and write about what I find beautiful in this world. I will speak about grief and loss as well, with the tenderness they deserve — and I will honor the place it now holds in my life and in my heart.
But most of all, I will love and notice the Goodness that always remains.
I Still Believe In Goodness
Yes, I still believe in goodness and beauty. All I have to do is take a look around me. It’s everywhere. It’s woven into existence itself.
Beauty endures, Always — even in seasons of deep sorrow.
I can see these things not in spite of the loss and heartache, but because of it.
Nothing gives you a more clear view of reality than watching so much of it disappear. You walk away with a deeper respect and appreciation of ALL that remains.
Goodness and beauty are all around and within — I hold fast to that.
What I Hope You Find Here
My hope is that you will find resonance with the perspectives, reflections, and considerations offered here.
I hope my words and message help you notice the goodness already woven into your life — and trust that even in hard seasons beauty, meaning, and hope are never far away.
Ella Ann
To read more about how to navigate the site visit Start Here
