Happy Thursday beautiful hearts!  I am so thankful on this day for the outpouring of love and support from my community of peeps in northeast, Ohio as well as my friends throughout the US and beyond.  Ode To Love's pre-launch has been nothing short of amazing!!  

​As I navigate an entirely new chapter of my life, I have to admit, there is so much excitement ahead, as well as uncharted territory.  For that I am totally grateful.  That's the magic of life my friends.  We make plans and then even more miraculous ones appear.  I've had so many ideas and desires for Ode to Love, but truthfully a lot of my plans have had a plot twist.  These plot twists have introduced me to new people, taken me on some awesome adventures and constantly remind me to ask the question, "Why not?"  

We all have a proverbial story inside of us.  Something that we long to share with the world.  Don't you agree?  Perhaps somewhere along the way we began to doubt our magic.  Maybe someone said we were too much.  Maybe we believed them.  Maybe we have lived our entire lives hoping to please another.  Maybe we're ready to change, and maybe we're not?   The beauty of life is that whats meant for us can't miss us.  We might take a pretty mighty detour, but in the end what's meant for us always finds a way.  

As I embark on this new venture I am so overjoyed.  I've had a smile perched on my face for days!  As new opportunities come up I ask myself "Why not?"  When someone says, "Why are you doing this now?"  My reply is often, "Because I don't want to be staring out the window someday wishing that I had had the courage to simply be myself.  I aspire to own my gifts and share them.  I was made to be a writer!"  

Are you ready to share your gifts?  
Why not my friends?!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

The Sun
Have you ever seen 
anything 
in your life 
more wonderful
than the way the sun, 
every evening, 
relaxed and easy, 
floats toward the horizon
and into the clouds or the hills, 
or the rumpled sea, 
and is gone– 
and how it slides again
out of the blackness, 
every morning, 
on the other side of the world, 
like a red flower
streaming upward on its heavenly oils, 
say, on a morning in early summer, 
at its perfect imperial distance– 
and have you ever felt for anything 
such wild love– 
do you think there is anywhere, in any language, 
a word billowing enough 
for the pleasure
that fills you, 
as the sun 
reaches out, 
as it warms you
as you stand there, 
empty-handed– 
or have you too 
turned from this world–
or have you too 
gone crazy 
for power, 
for things?
- Mary Oliver

Happy Tuesday beautiful hearts!  Today I am so excited, proud, grateful, and brimming with joy as I share a life long dream with you.  I am ecstatic to announce that I have written and self published the first of many books.  My 'baby' is, Ode to Love: A Journey of Awakening.  This 144 page book is chalked full of inspiring prose and amazing black and white photography.  

I have been working on this book since last December and it has been nothing short of a labor of love.  I'm not a mother, but I can only imagine the ups and downs that a woman experiences throughout her pregnancy.  I feel like I have been pregnant with this book for almost a year and now I am ready to share my love with you.  Totally doing a happy dance!!!

This book arose from a conversation with a dear friend as well as my love for my sweet little niece.  My friend was going to speak with her grown daughters about how much she loved them, and not just any love, but an enduring love that didn't require them to be anyone other than who they are/were.  It touched my heart so much that as a mother she had hopes and dreams for them, but at the end of the day she just wanted them to be themselves.  

I look to my niece and I see her joie de vivre and I want her to always remember that about herself....I want us all to remember that quality of ourselves.   We are at our core; love.  This book is my contribution to the world.  I want people to feel inspired and encouraged to live their best lives.  Not in the shadows of what the world wants or needs them to be, but to live from a space of love and abundance!  Celebrate, love, breathe and remember that you are an amazing spirit in a human body.  You are here to do grand things with your life.  Leave the world better than you found it.  

Checkout Sweetly Seeking's sister site, www.coolcreativepress.com to find out more about Ode to Love.  

To all the dreamers...you can do it!!  Give it your whole heart!  Make your life, an Ode to Love!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

Happy Friday beautiful hearts!  Just loving this chick's pipes!!  Enjoy my friends!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving dear hearts!  I just finished up my sweet potato casserole to share at my brothers home tomorrow and as I was prepping I couldn't help but think about days gone by, and how I'd like to spend the days ahead.   

I remember the celebration at my great aunts house.  All of us crammed into three rooms together.  While the men watched football and rested their eyes, the children played, and the women somehow ended up on dish duty.  The aromas that filled the air still come back with such fondness.  Times felt so simple and people so easy to connect with.  There were no distractions, just conversations and laughter.  My grandma would always bring wrapped up presents so that the kids could play bingo, and we squealed with delight when we won.   We usually rolled back into our blue mini van to head to the next gathering.  

We traveled to my grandparents house in our hometown.  By the time we arrived, everyone was ready for a dinner feast.  They'd had the afternoon to enjoy their turkey comas.  We gathered around the table; conversation flowing, laughter filling the air, and such love passing between us.   We usually retired to the living room to search through the newspaper ads for the next morning.   And sometimes there was a rousing crokinole game going on in the spare room.  

As I reflect on these thankful moments in my life, I can't help but miss the figures that are now gone from the table.  Their presence eternally etched in my heart, but their absence felt on these days of gathering with those that we love.  I used to think that Thanksgiving was a once a year deal, but now; I'm pretty sure it should be celebrated everyday.  

Each day we have the chance to mindfully connect with those who are near and dear to us.  We can reach out and express our appreciation.  We can shower those we love with kindness.  We can grant compassion to those who challenge us.  We have the ability each day to marvel at the miraculous moments of our lives.  The moments that fill our spirits as well as the ones that bring us to our knees.  Our lives are such a blessing, may we always live in a way that honors the sacredness of our being.  In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual." 

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

Happy Wednesday beautiful hearts!  I feel like life has been offering up this lesson lately? Fear and love.  How about you?  The lesson of love and fear, of heaven and hell, not in another place, but in this sacred moment.  Each of these teachers offering a lesson, an opportunity to awaken and feel our hearts.  As humans our tendency is to vacillate between the two in our minds.  We attempt to rationalize our way out of loving and into being fearful.  Proceeding forward in love requires a certain fortitude of insurmountable faith.  Proceeding forward in fear also requires a deep seated faith that something is flawed, perhaps at our very core we feel that it is us?  Can we sit with these two energies and discover where they live in our bodies, our minds, our lives?  

Love sets the table for us to feast.  Fear sets the table of scarcity.  Love asks us to witness the magic and splendor.  Fear asks us to witness our smallness and unworthiness.  These two companions often accompany us for the journey of our lifetime.  Perhaps at certain points in our lives we notice one voice more audibly in the foreground of our lives.   Can we notice the voice without judgment?  

I watch my own life move through these seasons of fear and love, and as winter draws near in the Northern Hemisphere, I find myself contracting inward.  I desire to know these two colleagues that work together in tandem.   I aspire to know what sets off my little slice of heaven, or my little slice of hell?   

Love asks us to get messy and magical and lost in a sense of wonder.  Fear also asks us to get trapped in the anxiety of the future or the regret of the past.  Each story of our life as Marianne Williamson says, "Is either love, or a call for love."

As we move through the seasons of gratitude in our life, can we entertain that each of these emotions; love and fear has an offering for us.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah 

​

Happy Friday beautiful hearts!  Totally crushing on John Mayer, and loving this song!!  Hope it rocks you right into your weekend.  

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
Sarah 

Happy Thursday beautiful hearts!  I am again reminded of the inspiring life lesson as delivered up by my almost two and a half year old niece.  I had missed seeing her most of last week due to being ill, and at the beginning of this week, was overjoyed to be in her presence.  As I walked into her home, she began screaming my name and ran over for a hug.  Talk about a heart melting moment!  Totally anchored that feeling into my awareness!  

I was only with her for a bit before she had to get ready for bed, but she invited me up to read her some bedtime stories.  She nestled into her chair, and then directed me to snuggle in beside her.  "I saved you a big space Aunt Sarah."  I chuckled as I soaked in her honesty. 

She had several of her favorite stuffed animals arranged with us, and as I began reading, she began chugging down her bedtime milk.  From time to time she would laugh about the story, point out characters and then at one point, she stopped and remarked how much she liked my nail polish.  All the while, I just felt my heart smiling.  

Every time I am with her, I am again reminded to be present and to tap into the beautiful essence of having a 'child's heart.'  She is so available to life.  The moments of pure bliss as well as the moments of frustration.  She has moments of meltdown, moments of whimsy, moments of spontaneous emotion, but she moves through them with such a tender heart.  

As I hang out with her I am reminded to move through my life in such a way.  When was the last time you did something with the eyes of a child?  When was the last time you allowed your heart to be softened with love?  When have you colored outside the lines?  Had yourself a good cry?  Jumped in a solid mud puddle?  Took a long bubble bath?  Professed your love for someone from a space of genuineness and not needing anything in return?  

This tiny little human amazes my heart and enriches my life in such infinite ways!  My love for her is off the charts!  Cheers to the many lessons yet to come.

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah  

Happy Wednesday beautiful hearts!  Just checking in with our readers to see if you are feeling fully alive and well rested in your life?  Male or female we both have the ability to nurture the Divine Feminine energy that is coursing through our bodies.  The Divine Feminine reminds us that moving at a slower pace and practicing self care is crucial to the overall vitality of optimally functioning in our lives.   We are called to nurture ourselves so that we may have a fuller cup to give to others.  

If its been a while since you tapped into the rhythms of your life, maybe grant yourself that gift today.  Enjoy moving slower.  Connect mindfully with the energy of your life.  What do you really need in this moment to more fully connect and move from a place of power in your life?  

Enjoy this inquiry my friends!  Dive deep and gather the treasures that you need to become a master of living YOUR life!

May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude, 
​Sarah