SIMPLE + TRUE

by Grace Theisen

Simple + True EP available now on iTunes and Spotify.

3:49

DEAR HEART (single)

Grace Theisen
4:36

SIMPLE + TRUE (single)

Grace Theisen
2:57

HEAVEN WILL WAIT

Grace Theisen
4:11

DRIVE ON

Grace Theisen
3:26

LEAVE A LIGHT ON

Grace Theisen

upcoming shows

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Grace Theisen

Can’t wait to have you stateside, @RooPanes!! https://t.co/wOMqfL2DvB
about 4 months ago
Grace Theisen

RT @RevBeccaStevens: In 60days we celebrate 30yrs of marriage. Thank you for never buying me a diamond--a source of injustices and false… https://t.co/qbwVZfUrvC
about 5 months ago
Grace Theisen

RT @abbycreates: Charcuterie boards are just Lunchables for adults
about 5 months ago
Grace Theisen

RT @daughterproject: https://t.co/hSCEMFZkTt https://t.co/hSCEMFZkTt
about 5 months ago

These last few weeks have been a WHIRLWIND and probably some of the most transformative weeks of my stay.
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Before coming to @shakacostarica, I never woke up earlier than 1 P.M., I had to force myself to workout (or really even get out of bed), and I hadn’t picked up my guitar in months. I was a shell of a human so burnt out on life, my job, moving, relationships and detoxing off pain meds.
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Over the last few weeks, I got talked into a “dawn patrol” surf thanks to @nikolaricola (“just try it once and if you hate it we never have to do it again...”) and fell in LOVE. I thought I loved surfing before but surfing as the sun rises... when no one else is in the ocean is just UNREAL. Not to mention I have been doing yoga almost daily (thanks to the amazing @surfsoul.retreats) and while I still have bad pain days... it is NOTHING compared to before coming here.
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This morning’s dawn patrol crew was probably one of my most favorite surfs I have had yet mainly because I FINALLY caught my own GOOD damn wave out the back and rode it all the way in 🤗 and @_sophiejamesw and I wore matching rash guards because #duh.
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But the biggest change for me here hasn’t been the surfing or how my body is (almost) use to waking up at 6 A.M. everyday 🤦🏻‍♀️ or being able to do so much physical activity... it’s the fact that I came to Costa Rica with zero intention of doing music... but slowly and surely @matthewbienz and Mike pulled me out of my shell by asking me to play a song JUST for them... and then JUST for our guests... then JUST for yoga and then JUST at the brewery... and soon enough... I was playing out again without fear or perfectionism leading the way. I have felt my heart LITERALLY come back to life again in a way that has been missing for over a year. I re-fell back in love with the THING that even got me to @songsagainstslavery.
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So thank YOU @shakacostarica and guests for believing in me and encouraging me in my craft and giving me back the thing that makes my heart SOAR like nothing else. Not to mention meeting/playing with @suzinaomi suzinaomi has been the cherry on top of it all.
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PS: MY SISTER CAME TO SHAKA OVER CHRISTMAS AND SURFED TOO!!!! 🤗

2018 was a year I will never forget. It carried a lot of heaviness, grief, pain, anxiety and depression. Friendships were put through the wringer and relationships ended. My nonprofit went through some massive changes that brought a lot of heartbreak and tears. I struggled with suicidal thoughts and had days where I never left my bed because the pain and mental anguish were debilitating. I moved home from Nashville, a city that I love more than anything else in this world, to wean off almost two years worth of Oxytocin and Percocet and to be totally honest... I barely remember the months following because I became a shell of a human. I thought 2017 was the hardest year I had ever endured going through my second back surgery but 2018 almost took the wind out of my sails. I fumbled with my faith, with God and gave on praying because I didn’t see the point anymore. I stopped playing music because I had zero energy to do anything other than exist.
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But then I found grace through a trip to Hawaii that led me to Costa Rica and here I sit in a hammock writing this out with tears streaming down my face. Because for as HARD and as SHITTY as this year was... it ended in a place that brought me back to life. Literally. A place where the jungle and ocean give off so much LIFE and LIGHT to you every single day and allow for TRUE inner healing to happen. I was introduced to surfing and it saved my soul and slowly has re-built my confidence back up to show me that I CAN move across the world and do a totally new job, make new friends and not just exist but THRIVE. I CAN play music again and fall back in love with the reasons why I even started playing. I CAN handle my chronic pain and not let it stop me from living a joy-filled life saturated in love. I CAN do relationships well and keep my heart and hands open to whatever life has to offer me next. But most importantly, I CAN do all of these things and feel deeply about people and relationships because I now KNOW the depths of pain and suffering. And I truly believe you can only feel LOVE as deeply as you allow yourself to feel pain... because they both come from the same place: your heart.
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...continued in comments.

THIS CHRISTMAS I AM MOST EXCITED ABOUT MY NEW @saltybirdsurf RASHGAURD + MATCHING @torqsurfboards AND LEASH. 🤗 (And YES I do surf this board this time out the back... thanks to @nikolaricola and his amazing instructor skills.)
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But in all honesty I am SO thankful for this job, my boss and his AMAZING brother who got me the SWEETEST gifts and cards which had me crying all day and the fact that my sister CAME to @shakacostarica to be with me for Christmas. Three months ago I never imagined this would be my life and now I can’t imagine being anywhere else in the world. Surfing and Shaka have CHANGED me and I am SO GLAD i still have a month and a half left with this place.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT. 🤗

Two months ago... we were complete strangers. And today in the kitchen, your brother looked and me and said: “I feel like I have known you for 5 years... like you’ve always been a part of Shaka.” And that is EXACTLY how I feel about you (both) and this place.
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From our initial 2.5 hour long conversation during the interview process, I just KNEW I would end up at here and as your roommate. (Also SO GLAD I now know your gay... LOL #bestroomieever)
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Then you picked me up at the Shack in Tambour and came bounding out of Donna, with the world’s greatest hair, walking barefoot on a mission and gave me the biggest hug and I knew in that moment I had made the best decision to come here. (Not to mention I don’t think either one of us has stopped talking to each other since that first car ride...🙈)
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Our shared tears started day one with reading past guest experiences at Shaka and they never stopped. I am so insanely blessed that this unprecedented and unexpected friendship turned family and that I have a forever brother. I’ve never felt so LOVED or welcomed in my entire life by someone but it didn’t just stop there... you have constantly challenged me to dig deeper, fight harder, and show up more wholehearted both with thus job, pain and in LIFE. I am not the same human I was 2 months ago...I have never felt more myself in my LIFE than I have when I am at this place and that is MAJORLY because of you.
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I may never stop crying over the fact that you are now gone and that Shaka (or my room) will not be the same without you. But I will always hold an open heart space for you in my life. GET PUMPED for nonstop play by play messages this next month and a half... you will always be my forever roommate and number one Shaka processor. ;) -
I love you SO EFFING much. And SO DO SO MANY OTHERS.. as you will soon read. 🤗 Thank you for changing my life, truly. I will always write you a song any day... any time. You are ALL this world needs now. Now go fly from the nest if Shaka, babe. Your time here is over and now...This is YOUR time. ❤️

I have been asked a lot recently about my Instagram and pain and to be totally honest... I actually really hate social media. But I told myself a few years ago... if I am going to use it then I need to be transparent on here so it isn’t an effing highlight reel for others to compare their lives too. Because I HATE comparison and I think we (myself majorly included) let it steal our joy way more than we should.
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While this last month and a half have been COMPLETELY life-changing and I am SO GLAD I made the decision to move to Costa Rica for 3 months... it has been extremely challenging for me both physically, mentally and emotionally. I got off pain meds ONE WEEK before coming and was an absolute train wreck with pain, anxiety and depression in the weeks leading up to this trip. I had NO IDEA how I was going to live without them and to be totally honest... I still have had to take some while being here.
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Today I sat on the kitchen floor crying because I got so overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion of trying to “figure out” what helps, what doesn’t, what makes it worse... etc. I have no IDEA what parts of my pain are mental, what are real, what is from the surgeries... and the more I try to figure it out the more frustrated I get because it just doesn’t make sense most days.
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I HATE identifying with pain and while it has been such a beautiful and raw part of my story-that has led me to meet my bestest friends-I still don’t always know how to talk about it without giving it too much or too little power in my life.
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I HATE how I can have an amazing day of surfing, running and yoga and then have to pay for it hours or days later. It makes me want to pull my hair out because I feel so dang powerless to it... like “do I live my life and try to feed my soul? Or do I live cautiously so pain doesn’t get bad?” 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
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ALL of this to say... I am learning it’s OK to have shit days. No one has anything figured out and if you are in the midst of the struggle... KNOW YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I do intentionally work HARD to CHOOSE JOY despite pain... but I ALSO HAVE EFFING SHIT DAYS TOO. It’s a constant DAILY battle. And you know what we call that? REAL LIFE. ❤️

I have always been someone who values deep, intentional conversation above almost everything else in life. If you know me... you know I am way more comfortable sitting in a corner one on one with a soul discussing pain and suffering versus having to be in a group setting. I don’t know why but getting to the heart of a person’s soul just makes me come alive like nothing else in this world.
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But with this gift also comes a tendency to hold on too tightly to people, experiences and places. I get so emotionally invested and then when people leave or I leave or things don’t work out... I fall a part. I feel as if a piece of my heart is also leaving me as well. This last year knocked the wind out of my sails and before coming to Costa Rica, I was very bitter and guarded towards life and others because of how much pain this year brought.
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But these last few days here have been full of unexpected surprises and time spent in long conversations and sharing of hearts. For the first time in a LONG time, I started to feel myself open back up. I didn’t shut down or back away from who I am at my core... I stayed open to the process and was received with open and gentle arms. And sometimes that’s all we need to know that we are actually going to be OK. That we are capable of love and of being loved.
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My amazing roommate/partner in crime reminded me late last night that sometimes the Universe sends people our way for short periods to teach us things and remind us of who we are at our core. And we can take what we have learned and apply it to our lives and trust that their purpose was served. We can hold onto the beautiful moments and conversations shared while simultaneously letting them go. We can stay open and vulnerable to life without having to attach to everything and everyone around us. And I am so dang grateful for these last few (epic) days and to the people that were a part of teaching me this very thing. ❤️

THIS WEEK. THE PEOPLE. THE SURF. I am just so dang grateful for this experience and this job. It took me 4 weeks but I FINALLY made it out the back this week and surfed some green waves. It was by far the most EPIC and TERRIFYING thing I have ever done. I was just so dang proud of myself for doing the dang THING-fears, anxiety, pain and all. It was a massive hurdle for me on so many levels. To be totally honest I didn’t think my body would ever be able to get out there or get strong enough to do it. It has taken a LOT of hard mental work and working out to get back there and that paddle out is NO JOKE. 🤦🏻‍♀️
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This week I also had the toughest pain day I’ve had since being here and had to take some time to go sit by the ocean and breath. I couldn’t stop crying and had this massive wave of negative thoughts running through my head: “What if this is always my life.... What if have to take pain meds forever.. What if it just keeps getting worse.” But something about being in front of the ocean and realizing that I have conquered SO many fears-physically and mentally with surfing and being here-it hit me that pain HASNT EVER stopped me. I realized it had been months since I had a pain day that bad and those mental thoughts use to be my every DAY battle. I reminded myself of all the beautiful humans I have gotten to meet and the fact that I am surfing and doing yoga daily and actually LIVING LIFE again without pain being the center of my attention 24/7. I promise you there is HOPE even in the dark days.
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The jungle has this way of pulling people out of their shells when coming here and this space is just so dang special. I know it’s already changed me in so many ways. I will never take for granted the fact that I get to sit next to others here as they process pain, grief, suffering and to get to cry with them... and then rejoice, laugh and celebrate them when they catch a wave or face fears. It’s just epic on so many levels.
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A special shoutout to my roomie for catching this picture of me coming out of the water and just being one of the best humans I know. ❤️ @matthewbienz

“We are all born with the capacity to find the hidden light in all events and all people. We are here to heal the world one heart at a time. We are all healers of the world... and it starts with healing the world that touches you.” -Rachel Naomi
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I won’t forget sitting on the beach this week with some of these amazing humans, sharing stories of heartbreak, pain, suffering and coming to the unilateral conclusion that it’s THESE very things that shape us into who we are. It’s the very parts of ourselves that need healing that in turn become the parts of ourselves that help to heal others.
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If I have learned anything in walking through six years of chronic pain it’s that my story-my experience with suffering-is the very thing that bridges the gap between me and another soul. It’s not my accomplishments or achievements-it’s actually in talking about my weaknesses and experiences with pain that instantly connect me to someone else... because we ALL face suffering. We ALL walk through our own gates of hell. And while my pain may not be the same as someone else’s pain-we all experience it and it’s the ONE thing in life that levels the playing field between mankind. But it doesn’t stop there. We have to allow ourselves to stay open and become transformed by our pain and suffering-to allow it to soften and deepen our hearts-so that when others around us are walking through hell... we are able to sit beside them and share in their suffering with integrity and authenticity. We are able to help carry their load.
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WE are the healers. WE are the light. WE are what is going to change the world into a kinder place... and it starts first with loving yourself and then the person in front of you.
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PS: I have the best job in the world. I still can’t get over how many insanely amazing and gorgeous humans I get to meet inside and out. 😍

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BIOGRAPHY

Finding beauty in pain, through creating art, in pursuit of redemption.

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