FINDING GRACE

I feel like a fraud when I check into the campground by Graceland where I will sleep for three nights. I hope the Elvis Police will not bust me.

While I am not an Elvis fan, there are millions. I never knew what to make of all of his fancy clothes, his jewels, his sexy moves. Could I experience this place with all of these believers for a few days and not be found out?

I don my dark glasses and slip into the land of Heartbreak and Grace.

Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee

At the Heartbreak Hotel, people sit in the bar as if at church on a Sunday morning. The silence is palpable.

I ask, What is the magic of Elvis that people travel from all over the world to brush up against?

A documentary about Elvis’s spiritual life appears on thescreen. The film describes what a “big heart” he had, always looking for ways to help others.

The costume designer for an Elvis impersonator show tells me of a cleaning woman for whom Elvis bought a Cadillac.

A 20-something guitar player, who drives a tour bus by day, explains to me, “Elvis would give you the shirt off of his back. He met a woman in a wheelchair one day. They talked as if they had all the time in the world. Elvis would later buy that woman a brand new wheelchair.”

The shopkeeper at the campground tells me that Elvis was almost broke when he died, he was so generous.

The tribute artist who has been performing an Elvis show three times a week for more than 17 years suggests, “He was such a good person. We should all be Elvis impersonators in that way.”

Heartbreak Hotel

 

The Spirit of Elvis

In a room filled with plaques from charities that Elvis supported during his lifetime, I re-play words from an audio tour. Elvis speaks:

“There was a guy who said one time you never stood in that man’s shoes or saw things through his eyes. Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies. So help your brother along the way, no matter where he starts. For the same God that made you made him, too: these men with broken hearts.”

Words from his daughter, Lisa Marie, ring in my ears as I walk through their family home:

“I remember people going to him saying,‘I just got a bum deal,’ and bang there was a check. I never saw him not doing something for somebody ever. That was probably the one thing that kept him sane was his ability to give back.”

***

Later, in the Jungle Room, a woman, tourist, is crying. She’s sitting on a bench with a friend outside.

I join them, and ask why she was crying inside.

“You know the line from the song, ‘There’s a pretty little thing waiting for the King down in the Jungle Room?’ That’s me,” she says.

Marianne explains that 26 years ago, she dreamed about visiting Graceland. This year, on her 40th birthday, she got a surprise gift from six of her girlfriends to come here. “It was a dream come true.”

When I ask her why she is such an Elvis fan, she does not talk of how good he looks in pants as I might have (he doeslook good in pants). Or even his music.

“He was such a kind person,” she says as she pats her heart. Tears pool again in her eyes. “Really kind.”

Nice Crib!

 

Outside the Jungle Room

I ask about the silk sunflower she carries, a memory of her mother she has kept in her bedroom for years.

Today, she will leave the flower with Elvis, on his grave, in his meditation gardens.

***

As I leave Graceland, I listen to a song Elvis liked to sing. Now I hear the lyrics as never before:

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me…

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see…”

I thought Elvis was about the jewels, the fancy clothes, the sexy moves. The piece I had missed that others had found was his generosity of spirit. A desire to help that surpassed (and supplemented) writing checks to aid someone’s plight. He stayed beside people as they sat in a wheelchair, talking together as if he had all day. Shared himself while he struggled to fight demons that came with his immense fame.

Generosity of spirit as a lifeline to sanity: this had never been part of my thinking.

I was blind. I had not seen Elvis until I arrived in Graceland and got all shook up.

***

Can we apply this to our own lives, especially this time of year?

Here are a few small steps:

1. Generosity of spirit as a lifeline to sanity. Especially during a busy holiday season, when stresses can feel amplified, if we take a moment to breathe and accept: the gift we’re giving? The time we’re sharing? These can be “lifelines” to our own “sanity” when we give with generosity and grace.
2. Walking in others’ shoes. I love what Elvis shared about “help your brother along the way, no matter where he starts. For the same God that made you made him, too.” It’s such a simple invitation, yet profound. He ismy brother; we are all part of the human family. We can start simply by walking in his shoes for a few paces – while we race around the malls holiday shopping. 
3. Find unexpected inspiration.Another path to grace, I believe, is to continue finding inspiring models and walking in their shoes for a while. Elvis? Who knew?!  Apparently, many people did. I’m grateful to be among them now. And maybe you are, too. 

Jillian Robinson is a Certified High Performance Coach whose passion is to help people live their best selves with the consistentfeelings of full engagement, joy and confidence. She loves to coach changemakers and parents committed to positively impact young peoples’ lives. Her vision is that, someday, personal development will be taught as commonly as math and science. When you participate in her programs, you become part of that positive change.