HELLO AND 5 FEEL GOOD IDEAS!

E22B714D-7ED0-43A5-92BA-779A7AC5574D

For those of you who are newish here, salutations!  I’m Sarah. I like to thrift hard! Free furniture on the roadside makes my heart go pitter patter and my imagination SOAR. I’m a maximalist and identify as a “chaos muppet” (see muppet theory!). I spent my early years mostly in water swimming and imagining in our backyard pool in Hollywood Florida until we moved to N. Minnesota where I about passed out from the first field of dandelions I saw in bloom! I forced my parents to stop the car and threw myself onto the ground (I can be prone to moments of drama). I always wanted to help relieve suffering and went to medical school to do so, but ended up dodging direct patient care to become a disease hunter instead (I’m board certified in pathology).

As the years wore on, disease hunting felt stale and I became curious about what made people WELL! After much fretting, hemming, hawing, leaping and floundering, I came to understand that it was singing, dancing, telling stories, making art and generally just unabashedly expressing ourselves that brings LIFE to humans!

My priorities are, in no certain order, living sober (I’m a grateful 12 step member), being creative, endeavoring to be the best version of mother, friend, daughter + wife I can be and supporting/encouraging others to do their creative work!

Here is this week’s list of FEEL GOOD ideas +Things.

1.  Holidays are for FEELING. I was having some STRONG FEELINGS of ICK (If I recall correctly, it was self -pity mixed with a touch of scathing irritation) early in the holiday season when I was thunderstruck by this thought:

“The holidays are a perfect opportunity to feel surly, utterly confused about your life purpose, irritated, flooded (and not in a good way), deeply discouraged, overwhelmed, high and mighty, lowly like a worm 🐛 or baffled….you are a holiday guest house…and these guests won’t stay forever.”

For me, somehow, if I am feeling “bad” during December (or 4th of July or at the family reunion) for whatever reason,  it often feels MAGNIFIED because of how “fun” and “wonderful” the holidays are supposed to be. It’s as if SHAME gets piled atop the strong feelings that are already there.  So if you are having strong unpleasant feelings, you are not alone!  You are doing OK!  Breathe, feel, repeat!

2. Quote I am digging comes from environmentalist and activist Edward Abbey—so many of us care so deeply about tending to those who are sufferring and to the earth…and this can be exhausting if we’re not careful.

“….a final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast.a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body….”

3. IN this season of extra tasks piled atop regular tasks (prezzies to purchase and parties to dress for!), It helps me to embrace the truth that SOME IS BETTER THAN NONE when it comes to habits that support me.  One minute of meditation trumps zero. 15 minutes of yoga (instead of 60) is supportive. A ten minute walk can do wonders for my spirit (even though I wish I had time for an hour!). Reading one paragraph of a spiritual book in the morning is better than not reading anything!

“Take it easy, but keep going!”
Alice, my spirit Elephant

4. The Bitch Is Back: Older, Wiser, and (Getting) Happier. It’s a collection of essays by a variety of women on the topic of getting older. The review below says it all. It made me reflect on why we stay together in marriages and why we leave and the complexities of being a mother.

“It’s like stumbling into an intimate, boozy, no-holds-barred gathering of the sharpest women writers you know — with deeply felt stories you’ll want to hear and the craft, charm, and humor to win you over. Some chapters are better than others, but I enjoyed every page and learned a lot about my 50-ish peers on the other side of marriage and child-raising”  Get the book here. 

5. A Great Listen for Your Dinner Making or Neighborhood walk Listening:  When Did Marriage Get So Hard?

5. A Gift for The Music/Podcast/Audible Listener on Your List or YOU. I  have fallen in love with these head phones.  They don’t fall off so they are great for walking in the woods.  The sound actually is conducted through your bones—so you can still hear traffice (making them safer for neighborhood running/walking!). I love them for listening to podcasts handsfree (airpods never worked for me!) Get them here.

I am wishing you great peace and strange moments of harmoniousness as you navigate the dazzling season of distraction! 

I’ve got room in the schedule for YOU!  You can book divinations, coaching, shamanic healing and shamanic mentoring HERE. 

with love,

Sarah

This email is reader supported! The best way to support me is to:

1. BUY MY BOOKS  (or listen to them on Audible!)
2. Purchase my CARD DECK 
2. DOWNLOAD my App for Wild Animal Messages
3. Book a session with me.
4. Take a CLASS from me.
5. Purchase a mug, t-shirt, framed print, tote bag, shower curtain or other magical thing that I have created at MY ART SHOP.
6. FORWARD this newsletter to somebody who you know would enjoy it!

LET’S WRITE OUR BOOKS TOGETHER IN 2023 (with Inger Kenobi + me)
READ more and register HERE.

After watching countless writers struggle to give their book the time and the energy it needs and deserves – and after overcoming oh-so-many obstacles ourselves – we’re excited to show you a different path. A flight path, if you will, where:

  • you’ll be supported, uplifted, and on a roll
  • you’ll learn in-depth writing tools and strategies that work
  • you’ll stop fussing, nitpicking, and itching to ‘improve’ everything
  • you’ll forge a sacred bond between you and your book
  • you’ll break free from writer’s block and inner drama
  • you’ll isolate what you want to write about from what you think you should write about
  • you’ll schedule pleasure breaks and celebrate your wins
  • you’ll get to say, ‘I wrote a book!’ ​​

We guarantee: When you show up for yourself and your amazing book, you are going to feel the incomparable feeling of being in integrity with yourself.

READ more and register HERE!

Join the Love Yourself First Virtual Summit on February 13 – 16, 2023. Get inspired to move beyond burn out culture and put your needs at the top of your to-do list, even if you’re used to putting yourself last.

I’ve been selected to speak at this event, along with 30+ leaders and teachers. We’ll all be bringing our best tips and strategies for putting on your own oxygen mask first. Who couldn’t use that reminder? (There’s a reason they repeat this instruction on every flight…it’s because in the heat of the moment, it’s so human to forget to take care of ourselves!)

It’s totally free to register. You can do that by clicking here.

The summit will explore:

  • Practices to transform stress, challenging habits, shame, trauma, and more
  • Practical tools to cultivate rest, renewal, and wholeness
  • The relationship between self-care and selflessness
  • Self-care as a superpower to fuel transformative action
  • Live interactive, experiential workshops
  • And much more!

Hope to see you there!

Register now for the Love Yourself First Virtual Summit February 13-16, 2023

owl

Work With Me

Serve your soul. Feel good. Learn why this is the most powerful thing you can do.

snail

Books & iPhone App

Do Beasties have a message for you? Are you irrepressible and born to FREAK?

zebra

Programs & Events

Live, love and learn how to Feel Good with Sarah - in person or online!

stoked-life-sidebar

The Stoked Life

A 5-part pre-recorded course on how to approach life the way traditional Shamanic peoples would

Leave a Comment