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
Aug 23, 2018, 8:46 PM
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
Aug 11, 2018, 7:15 AM
Grace Theisen

RT @abbycreates: Charcuterie boards are just Lunchables for adults
Aug 7, 2018, 1:20 PM
Grace Theisen

RT @daughterproject: https://t.co/hSCEMFZkTt https://t.co/hSCEMFZkTt
Jul 24, 2018, 6:02 AM

Lesson #3:
Life is community and community is life. You need people who are going to push you out of your comfort zone and encourage you that fear can’t win... even when you fall.

You can make family wherever you go... you just need an open heart and mind. Surround yourself with people who have different beliefs and cultures than you. It’s the only way to stay fully human.

Missing my @shakacostarica family so MUCH.
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Photos by @insecto ❤️

(2/3)
Lesson #2 from Costa Rica:
START CELEBRATING INSTEAD OF COMPARING.
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I’m not going to lie... when I first saw this photo the FIRST thing I thought was “SHOOOOT I need to work on my abs 🙄.” I didn’t celebrate the amazing wave I had gotten.... instead I zeroed in on negative things about my body. Who can relate?? I struggled with an eating disorder in high school and while I don’t struggle with it anymore, the thoughts can still creep in. CLEARLY. ESPECIALLY in the surf community when your around GORGEOUS humans 24/7 in and out of the water who can also shred like none other.
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BUT THAT IS SUCH BULLSHIT. SO HERE ME OUT LADIES-OUR BODIES ARE AMAZING. IM SORRY BUT MORE AMAZING THAN GUYS. WE NEED TO STOP THIS OBSESSING. JUST STOP. Because we have the gift of producing literal LIFE out of our bodies. But even MORE so than that... BECAUSE let’s be honest not everyone wants or can have kids...our bodies can HEAL and CHANGE and MORPHE and we get to live LIFE HARD AND WELL and wrinkles are added with AGE and in my opinion that is so DAMN BEAUTIFUL. We spend our whole lives chasing BEAUTY - trying to be/look younger when that’s NOT how God made us to be. If He/She wanted us to look 21 all the time... He/She would have made that happen. But instead we were given the ability for our bodies to grow and change to reflect a life well lived. TRULY. Can you believe how AMAZING that is??!
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I have ACTUAL LARGE SCARS in my front and back that remind me daily that my body was cut open TWICE and lots of hardware put in and YET... my body is able to SURF!!!! I think that’s ACTUALLY insane. In 5 MONTHS I went from never surfing a day in my life and being terrified to do it because of pain... to working hard and SEEING my body (and mind) transform to be able to SURF. POWERFUL WAVES. ON MY OWN.
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I DO NOT want my nieces to see me spend my entire life obsessing over my looks. I want them to see me FLOURISH and live LIFE with ALL that I have DESPITE my looks. I want them to see me call out beauty and celebrate others instead of speaking negativity and jealousy. And that’s what I am choosing from here on out. Will you join me? Should we treat our bodies well? YES. (Cont. In comments)

(1/3) I’ve been home for almost a week now after spending 5.5 months living in Costa Rica and to say that the entire experience was lifechanging would be an understatement. I learned a LOT about myself and a lot of life lessons.
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#1: EMBRACE THE UNKNOWN. You never know what life has in store around the corner.
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Last summer I moved home to start weaning off pain meds from my second major back surgery. My nonprofit was going through massive, heart-wrenching changes, I was going through a break up and had absolutely no idea what the EFF I was doing. (Heh I still don’t.) I woke up sick to my stomach with anxiety every single day that lasted all day and could barely eat. I felt so overwhelmed by everything and everyone.
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On a whim, my beautiful amazing sister/friend called me up and asked me to go to Hawaii with her for a friend’s wedding she was in. I wasn’t working and had nothing better to do so I figured, “Why not.” At this wedding, I met a lovely human named Ale who told me about this place called Shaka in Costa Rica and told me about a job opening and then proceeded to tell me how she just got back from 5 months solo trip around the world and she couldn’t recommend it enough.
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I thought she was equal parts crazy and bad ass. But in my heart, I knew I didn’t have the guts to do that. I have never seen myself as adventurous. I have been terrified to live 30 mins away from the closest doctor let alone move to another country where I (barely) spoke the language. But then I surfed in Hawaii and TRULY fell in love. I felt like my old self again-athletic and STRONG. So on a whim, I emailed Shaka, figuring there was no way I would get the job because it started in a month and was sure they had hired someone. But I told myself... if I got the job... I HAD to go. I NEEDED a way to learn how to love life again without the million pain meds and drugs I had been on.
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And after a 2+ hour convo with their other social host (and my future amazing brother/roomie), I just knew in my heart I had gotten the job. And I did. So I packed my bags, my anxiety and depression, kissed my cat a million times and told my family I would be back in 2 months. TOPS. (Cont. in comments)

These last few weeks I have been diving deep into taking my chronic pain seriously and daily doing meditations and journaling to re-train my brain to learn how to shut off my pain pathways. Sounds crazy right? I thought so too. Because I have been in the medical system for 6 years and have had 2 major back surgeries (I am 27 years old) and taken all the pain meds and guess what? I’m STILL in pain. The same pain that I had 6 years ago. But after researching and being introduced to a new way of thinking... I realize now it’s not crazy talk... it’s SCIENCE.
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Our bodies can handle a lot of things but sometimes we let our anxiety and stress get so out of control... that our brain starts to create pain in our body. REAL pain... that hurts like MOTHER EFFING HELL. And I know I am not the only one who suffers from chronic pain, migraines, auto-immune diseases... etc.
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Here’s the thing though... we want quick solutions. We want the pill to make it go away, the remedy that takes the least amount of work when in fact... it’s just the opposite. Our bodies are AMAZING. They can do SO MUCH... and can HEAL from injuries so quickly... but they can also latch onto fear just as easily and in turn create pain in our body.
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Healing yourself naturally is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I am daily having to retrain my brain to tell it that it is SAFE and tell my pain it doesn’t need to be there anymore as I can now emotionally handle my anxiety/problems. It takes discipline, hard work, journaling, working out, doing activity that I still fear and a LOT of emotions come out.... some days I feel SO ANGRY I want to punch a wall. But it’s all part of the process...of working through ALL the emotions we have suppressed for a LIFETIME.
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If you any type of chronic ANYTHING... I would first say.. your pain is REAL. You aren’t making it up. But there IS a solution. And I am tagging the resources that have saved me life.
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My pain is not gone yet... but I now have a REAL hope that one day it will be. I am now surfing and doing things I NEVER thought I would be able to do and when pain shows up... instead of thinking, “this is my forever” I now say, “This is just my today.” ❤️

Two years ago today I was getting my second major back surgery... and today? I woke up at 5am to surf. Something I NEVER imagined myself doing 2 years ago...or ever.
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As I went through my photos today of the last two years, I cried so many tears of joy, grief and sadness. By all that has been gained and all the has been lost. It has been the MOST trying two years of my life to date but I can honestly look back and say.... it took an entire community, a lot of patience, rest, counseling, moving to a different country and LOVE to bring me through to who I am today.
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Pain has taught me that nothing in life comes easy-NOTHING-and the most beautiful things are the ones we have to fight tooth and nail for. Life is MESSY, complicated, H A R D, but also SO DANG beautiful. But WE get to determine how we let our circumstances shape us... not the other way around.
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Two years ago, on this day, I never wanted to leave the hospital bed. I never wanted to get off the pain meds or do the hard work I know that was required of me to heal.... and I can look back on all of these pictures, on the community that surrounded me, on my MUSIC, shows and studio time that got me through-even while still in a back-brace-and now see that I wouldn’t change a thing about my story. I have learned how to have tough skin and an even softer heat. Back pain has taught me to stay smiling, no matter the circumstance. Because on some days, it’s all we have left.
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GUYS. DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE. I am here to tell you LIFE IS SO WORTH the living and if your laying in your bed wondering how the *%#! am I going to KEEP ON going on?! I am here to tell you.... you’re not alone. EVER. I get it. I really do. I can STILL feel like that. But pain-experiencing and feeling pain-is actually so beautiful because it reminds us we are ALIVE. We are HUMAN-living, breathing and feeling BEINGS. And that, that is a gift never to be taken for granted. I know that now.
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And thank you to ALL my friends and family who have gotten me through these last 2 years. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you all. ❤️

When you record voice memos in a bathroom because bathrooms have the BEST acoustics and then you send them to @hanshm91 and he just “whips up” these little videos with them while in the middle of nowhere Joshua Tree. 😱
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SANTA TERESA: PLAYING SOME NEIL YOUNG AND NEW ORIGINALS TONIGHT AT @tipsy.cr. Come on OUT!!!! 7:30-9:30!
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PS: the second song is a new one I wrote for @shakacostarica and your amazing yoga classes, @neomi.may! I promise I will test it out next week! 🤗
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#costarica #tipsywinebar #singersongwriter #newmusic #joshuatree #santateresa #shakacostarica #nashville

I have been getting way more serious about my mental health and combating pain these days... mainly because I am so tired of feeling shitty. I am tired of feeling sorry for myself and I am tired of being a victim to my pain. If you have chronic pain/illness these are a few things I cannot recommend enough:
1. The @curablehealth app and doing IT DAILY.
2. Being selfish with your healing-making it your number ONE priority no matter what life has to offer. If that’s going to yoga, taking 20 minutes to meditate, work out, eat better... we begin to FEEL BAD because we let ourselves feel bad. I truly believe that now. (If you don’t believe me.. watch the HEAL documentary on @netflix.) When my body starts to hurt, it’s probably because I haven’t moved off the couch or feed it well or gotten enough sleep. We HAVE to STOP MAKING excuses and claim our health back. Speaking to the choir on this one. Is it easier to pop a pain med then take an hour to meditate, free write and move my body? DUH. But that isn’t the long term solution. We have to fight hard for long term solutions... ones that have lasting positive effects.
3. Follow @ruthielindsey. This mama has been my saving grace since moving to Nashville 4 years ago. She is light, love, speaks honesty and from the heart but also pushes me CONSTANTLY to re-frame my mindset about pain... that healing IS FOR ME and I don’t HAVE to suffer. I don’t have to be a victim to my circumstances.
4. Set boundaries. Holy moly I cannot harp on this one ENOUGH. I am the people pleaser of all people pleasers but GUYS. That gets you NO WHERE in life... other than burnt out, in un-healthy relationships and anxious/stressed beyond measure. For me, moving to Costa Rica was the beginning of getting myself out of the dark hole I was in and learning to take my life back.
5. FIND POSITIVE/SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY WHO WILL CALL YOU OUT when you need to be pushed and hold you when you need to cry.
6. Lastly, as @frankieballard once told me, “you only have to be sober TODAY.” (In regards to weaning off pain meds.) Take it a day at a time. Live your life TODAY and just for today. Be gentle with yourself and shower your body in grace upon grace. ❤️

I came to Costa Rica not having many answers and a LOT of questions. I felt fragile in my faith walk and wasn’t even sure what I believed anymore and decided to come into this trip pursuing nothing. I let go of my expectations and others of me to “pray, journal, read my Bible” and decided for once in my life i was just going to LIVE. To exist and be present and not try to seek out God or Jesus or answers and see where I landed. To be honest, I didn’t even bring my Bible with me here. I was burnt out from American church, by Christians saying one thing and doing another (including myself) and needed a break.
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I have listened to podcast after podcast about others losing their faith and finding it again and some just losing it all together. I kept wondering, “But if I was raised in a different home across the world... would I believe all of this?” I still have no idea.
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I wish I could say over the last 4 months I I have had this CRAZY clarity and feel 100% CERTAIN in my beliefs but I don’t. I have met people here who believe in all kinds of things but the underlying belief that I CAN say I know now is that EVERYONE is searching for love and light in their life. And EVERYONE has the right to find it in their own way. I know many of you Christians reading this are probably thinking, “Oh here she goes... off the deep end.” And I would ask you to stop and check yourself and your thoughts. If God is LOVE and we were ALL created from God.. then we all have the ability to LOVE and BE LOVE. He has to have his hands in EVERYTHING because we ALL come from Him.
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I can count on my hand the number of times I have prayed here but I cannot count the number of times I have cried and celebrated and felt DEEP joy with others humans who exude more love and light than I have ever known in my life... humans who wouldnt call themselves “religious or Christians.” And I think there is something to be learned from that no matter what you believe. God said the MOST important commandment is to “love yourself and love others.” We all want to feel accepted and known and loved. And if for you, that is church... then do that. (Continued in comments.)

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BIOGRAPHY

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

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