The Marvelous, Messy Middle

SARK, in her Great Life Letter this week, talked about this.

I, for one, want to always feel good.  If I don’t, I promptly think I’m doing something wrong and want to get out of it as soon as possible.  The truth is, no one feels cheerful and happy all the time.  I think what SARK’s getting at is that, rather than haul yourself out of the funk, get into it.  Make friends with it.

SARK says, “It’s about finding and feeling as many glad parts as you can . . .” But it has to start by being willing to feel what you’re feeling.

I’ve heard it said a lot that the only way to transmute bad feelings is to feel them.  I don’t think I’ve ever fully grasped that.  But I think it’s about working with what SARK’s talking about: That middle point where life is what it is.

Rather than trying to medicate, feed, distract yourself from whatever you’re feeling, you need to face it.  Come to terms with it.  Saying this is where I am right now, feeling this.  Without judgment or plans to escape.  Being with it.

When you do that, immerse yourself, maybe there are spots that feel good within it.  Maybe there’s something quiet, relaxing or exciting about the feelings. Perhaps it says you’re alive.

It’s like anything, you get used to it.  Like jumping into cool water.  It’s a shock at first, but then you even things out and it feels okay.  At work, they changed a site I work with a lot.  When I first started using it, I found a task had become frustrating and tedious.  I had to move through 500 names, 10 at a time, waiting each time for the system to bring up the next names.  Doing this task, I would get bug-eyed and feel like I was falling asleep waiting for it.  But after doing it a couple hundred times, I’ve gotten used to it.  It no longer feels so tedious and difficult.  I believe this is the process of transmutation.

But it takes being willing to dive into that messy, chewy middle of things.  And then, making a choice to be glad, to honor the process of transforming the feelings.

A Brighter Day

In SARK’s recent newsletter, she talked about how taking good care of yourself is more than just deep tissue massages and healthy foods.  The heart of taking good care is in speaking kindly to yourself. I believe that if most of us took a moment to listen to the chatter in our heads, we’d find an endless stream of criticisms and corrections.

Esther and Jerry Hicks have a process they call “segment intending” where you stop and decide what you’re after with each segment of your day.  I’m borrowing that concept by segmenting my day and then asking how I’m doing.  Eckhart Tolle suggested the question.  If the thoughts or feelings I find are not to my liking, I rattle off a few of my favorite things:  a summer breeze, watching a great film, listening to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, crackling fires, a perfect cup of tea.  I’m calling it Segment Check-ins.

I try to set these segments up ahead of time, based on how my day unfolds.  Like, when I’m putting on my jewelry in the morning and when I’m taking it off at night, just before I get ready to drive, when I get into work and settle in, before lunch, etc.  I just take a breath and notice how I’m doing. 

In this way I’m practicing present moment awareness.  I’m also filing my head with good thoughts and improving my mood. 

Sometimes it’s just a matter of slowing down a bit, taking a breath.  I give myself permission to toss out any thoughts that I can’t do anything about right now.  Either there’s an action I need to take now, or there isn’t.  If there’s something I need to do later, I just put it aside.  As Eckhart Tolle says:  there’s nothing you can’t handle right now. When I narrow it down to just those things I can do right now, I feel calmer.  If I can do it now, I do. If not, I dance around in my faves and lighten my day.

Singing Three Parts with SARK

SARK has a tool she calls 3-Part Harmony.

I tried it this week.  I was struggling with a big change that’s trying to manifest itself in my life that I’m not entirely sure I want.  I had a lot to say about it.

The 3 Part Harmony goes a little something like this ~
You start with a good six Mad pages about whatever it is you’re mad or sad about, unwilling to do.  Let it flow.  SARK encourages you to repeat yourself, get dramatic and as demanding and as over the top as you can.  No limitations, don’t hold back, spew all of it out. (Barbara Sher calls this “Hard Times.”)

SARK’s second harmony are the Wise Pages.  When you have cleared the way with the Mad Pages, you can write out 4 to 6 pages from your wiser self.  Tell yourself what you need to hear. Maybe it’s comfort and understanding, some direction, a boost of encouragement. Address the issues brought up in the Mad Pages, but stay with the wise advice you would offer a good friend.  Say everything you want to say to yourself.

When you’ve finished that, you’re in a good place take the highest part of the harmony and do the Glad Pages. Talk of all you’re glad about.  I like the idea of pointing out those things you’re glad about in the situation that started all this, but any gratitude is healing.

What I found from this exercise was space.  I felt lighter, more open and willing.  Out of this space came a strong breakthrough on this matter.  It was different from my usual, sort of, rational revelation which says, “Ah, I see what was going on.”  This breakthrough went beyond into a new way of seeing the situation, a perspective I didn’t have before.  A more loving way to look at it.  There was new light to see the lay of the land.

Thanks SARK for opening up the orchestra, for the full sound.

This is one of many tools SARK offers and that you’ll learn about in Dream Boogie, Fall Session. There’s still time to sign up.  Registration closes on the 29th of September, 2010.  So click here before it’s too late!

Sharing the Small Bits with SARK

Here it is already!  The last weekend before the Fall Session of Dream Boogie with SARK.

SARK is offering the first class for FREE! You can sit down at the table with SARK and several hundred of her fellow travelers and sample what Dream Boogie is like.  There really are no words sufficient to describe SARK and her energy.  You must experience it for yourself.

If you can’t make the live Share and Tell-A-Class on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010, you can get a recording of the class.  You won’t be able to participate in the magical share part of the program, but you will be able to feel SARK at work!

Just a few more things in case I didn’t mention them before ~ Along with the fun Share and Tell-A Classes, the beautiful Boogie Books, the amazing Boogie Beans Community and the inspiring Inner Views, the hits keep coming.  When you’re in this class, every so often you get a Boogie Bit email from SARK packed with encouragement or something to pause and ponder.  On the community site we get access to a weekly Boogie Burst video from SARK at her home overlooking the skyline of San Francisco.  It’s a little like having tea with SARK. 





Another bit of SARK we get is in the Intuitive Flash.  This is a section on the Forum where you can post a question to SARK and she will share some of her wisdom.

You might also run into SARK when she drops by your “table” during the sharing part of the Tele-A Class.  You never know what she’ll say!

One of my cherished readers is Wendy Fedan.  Wendy has taken the class several times. Wendy, we’d love to hear what you have to say about Dream Boogie!

I urge you to, if there’s something you’ve been wanting to do that’s been sitting on the back burner too long because you didn’t think it was worth doing, or you couldn’t possibly find the time or money to make it happen, take this class.  You will be glad you did.  Click here to sign up!

Swimming with SARK’s Boogie Books

At the heart of the Dream Boogie with SARK Class, are the Boogie Books. Each week, after the live tele-class, we can go to the Boogie Beans site and easily download the book for the week.  These are 12 to 13 page books designed from the playful and colorful mind of SARK. They are a joy to behold and chock full of fun things to do! 

You can see what she calls her sillybus on the web site.  But here’s my take: In Week 1, SARK helps us to define our dream, get clearer on it. For Week 2, we discover what’s in our way, seeing the bigger picture. Week 3 is all about energy management and finding the energy we need to make our dream happen.  Week Four talks about getting things done, including the amazing Micro Movements.  The next week, Week 5 teaches us how to get the support and help we need to make our dreams happen.  In Week 6, we are learning to create balance, not forgetting to build a wonderful life aside our dream. Week 7 talks of commitment and its power to keep you going. Week 8 discusses how to go the distance with your dream.

I’ll give you a glimpse into the Boogie Book from “Adventurous Week Three – The World of Yes – Creating the Proof of Your Dream.” As the tele-classes closes with a prayer, song or story from SARK, the books open with an “Inspiring Invocation.”  Here is SARK’s message for Week Three: “May our courage be activated and strengthened by more consciously applied yesses.  May we let lose the wonders inside us, and be thrilled at what’s in there.”

The Boogie Books always open with a discussion that is an adjunct to the class material, not a repeat. SARK tells us about ways to bring more Yes Energy to our dreams.

Each week we get “Own Work” which is SARK’s version of Homework.  We need to do one thing in each of the categories of Visualizing, Intending, Sharing, and Doing.  Really, not much at all.  And SARK gives us fun ideas for each one.  This week, she suggests, for Visualizing, to make a list of your own Activators – those things that boost your energy and remind you why you’re going for your dream.  For Sharing, she asks us to share some of our ideas about Micro Movements on the Forum. For Doing, there is a Positive Challenge in each Boogie Book.  This week it’s about making a map of your dream with pictures that represent what you want.  Lists of why you’re excited about it and what you can do when you feel stuck. You might put on there the micro movement wheel of steps to take, people to call when you need inspiration . . .  A fun project.

For Intending, SARK suggests doing the Dream Digging questions in each Book. These are several thought-provoking questions about the subject at hand.  It always ends with an Intake: Three things my dream Needs from me; Three things I need from my Dream. The Dream Digging Questions are always my favorites.  Some examples: What role does energy play in my life?  What is my energy style?  How am I managing my energy?  What can I do to expand my energy?  What are some things that contract energy?  SARK says to take your time.  Do nothing in between questions, ponder them a bit, be easy with them. I’ve come away with something important from every session with the Dream Digging questions.  And the beauty is, the books are mine to keep forever and ever!  I can always come back to them.

It doesn’t end there, either.  Next comes a Boogie Buddy Challenge.  This week’s is to share evidence of your dream coming true, what you’ve done to move it ahead.  See if your Boogie Buddies can see things you’ve missed.  Find a way to celebrate together, everyone’s accomplishments, the movement you’ve all made.

There is also, included with every Book, a Dream Download. A piece of some of SARK’s inspiring art.  This week is a pinwheel that you can print out, put a pin in and use as a reminder to stir up your energy.

Finally, there are Radiant Resources in the back of each Boogie Book.  Books, web sites and things that can give further illumination to the topic at hand.  Her book suggestions in Week Three include Shakti Gawain’s “Creative Visualization” and Henry Miller’s “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird.”  Web sites like Martha Beck, the Goddess of Coaches and Barbarasher.com one of the best writers on the topic of creating your life in a sane way.

Time is running out to join the Fall Session of Dream Boogie with SARK.  Do it now!

Looking Inside with SARK and Marney

I want to apologize, Dear Readers, for my absence of late.  The winds of change can blow one off course for a time.  But I’m back now.  There may well be shifts afoot on the Positive Slant Blog as we go forward into the Fall.  Stay tuned.  If there’s something you want to me to consider that you like (or don’t like) about his Blog, I invite you to leave your comments.  I will listen to them all. Thank you for your continued support of the Positive Slant.

I intend to remain true to SARK at least until the Fall session of Dream Boogie, which starts September 22.  Click here for more information.

Without further ado, today I’m going to talk about one of the many delicious bonuses you get with Dream Boogie, Dancing from Dreaming to Doing: a series of “Inner Views” as SARK calls them. These are interview of some of the SARK’s favorite “Dream Doers.”  As we dance, in the class, from dreaming to doing, we get to hear their stories.

Conducted by the lovely and talented Marney Makridakis. Marney has a wonderfully loving style of interviewing. It’s a heart to heart experience.  Marney has a way of letting her innerviewee talk, say what they need to say, warmly acknowledge their wisdom and then gently guide them back to the target.  It’s a delightful skill to behold. And one that puts her, in my mind at least, at the top of the heap of great interview conductors.

You will hear from the likes of Marci Shimoff, best selling author of the Chicken Soup for the Women’s Soul, who also has as a prominent role in “The Secret” movie.  Her best selling book,  “Happy for No Reason,” which you may have read about on this Blog, will be followed up with a new book, coming out soon, all about love.

There’s also Tori Hartman and her color wisdom cards.  And Amy Ahler, the wake up coach, at  You might also enjoy Jen Lemen and Andrea Scher, Creators of MondoBeyondo.com or Eric Maisel, America’s foremost creativity coach and author of 30 books, including Creativity for Life.

It’s an inspiring adjunct to the course.  Sign up here, now!

Check out  SARK and Marney’s Magic Management: How Your Inner CEO and Inner Spirit Can Get Along and Thrive! Thursday, September 16, 2010.  SARK and Marney's Magic Management FREE Teleclass

Thank you, again, for your patience.  Please, let me know what you’re thinking.

Buddying Up With SARK







One of the things that really stands out for me in SARK’s Dream Boogie – Dancing from Dreaming to Doing Class is the amount of support you get.

Boogie Buddies takes support a step further. Not only is it support through the class, but it’s a support you get to take with you forever.

We are randomly paired with 3 or 4 other people and given their email addresses.

Each week SARK gives us a challenge to work with our Boogie Buddies. It’s like getting extra help, encouragement and support right in your e-mail box, as close as your send button.

Some of the Challenges invite you to ask for what you want. As you move through the class (and through life) your buddies can help you collect evidence of your progress and keep you on track.

My favorite is the Toy Chest of Virtual Prizes. You make a list of your favorite books, foods, things that make you smile, what you’d buy if money was no object, etc.. Send the list to your buddies. When you are in need of a prize, ask and your buddies can send you a virtual gift from your toy chest.

These buddies, as I said, can last a lifetime. We often find we were brought together for a “reason.” But, I think SARK would agree, those reasons were already there. We only just saw them when we came together. We, SARK teaches, are all mentors for each other. It’s built-in us.

One more feature that makes this such a fabulous class!

Remember to sign up using this link. Fall Session begins September 22nd. Boogie on!

SARK’s Little Bits

It is the Little Things in SARK’s Dream Boogie Class that really make you feel you’re getting so much more for your money!

The exciting news you just received from a Boogie Beans Community (BBC) friend of a great success!  The comforting e-mail from a Boogie Buddy.  When you least expect it, there will be a Boogie Bit e-mail from SARK saying exactly what you need to hear like: “Hello Sweet Little Soul! You are a tender little bean.  You are precious and lovable. Move closer to yourself so you can witness how endearing you really are. Your dream will thank you for loving you! Love, Susan.”

The Boogie Bit might also give you just the thing to ponder. One e-mail included  a soothing visualization of being in a canoe in the sun. Then SARK asked us what we think of the term “Awakened Vulnerability.”

It could come in the support or encouragement you find on one of the BBC forums.

You had a tough day and come home to watch one of SARK’s Boogie Burst videos.  It’s as if you’ve just had tea with her.  You come away feeling refreshed and excited about yourself and your dream!  Yes I can, you hear.  And all this in less than 5 minutes!

It’s the soothing voice of SARK (aka Susan) once a week on the phone, teaching and giggling, sighing and conjuring.  It’s in her readings, poems, songs or visualizations that end each class.  Completing the call feeling so much better than you did before! In that state of belief and glowing from knowing.

Another little thing that isn’t so little is when you sense that a newly acquired tool is doing its job, making your life easier.  Or that one thing SARK said to you in class last week finally sinks in and opens a door you didn’t even know was there. There are so many wonderful little things that tell you you’ve made the right decision to sign up.  

You can attend a free teleclass SARK is giving with Marney Makridakis on Thursday, September 22.  It’s called “SARK and Marney’s Magic Management: How Your Inner CEO and Inner Spirit Can Get Along and Thrive!”  I took this class and it was a lot of fun and very inspiring.  It’s a wonderful way to get a free taste of SARK and Marney’s teachings.  After the class, there will be a live information session for Dream Boogie, where participants in the current session will share their experiences and answer questions.

Click here for more information and to get your name on the Guest List for the Magic Management Class!

Meeting in the Sandbox with SARK

“We are indelibly connected and when our dreams come together, they are magnified.”  SARK, aka Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy.

In SARK’s Dream Boogie, Dancing from Dreaming to Doing, her 8 week teleclass, as a bonus to your registration fee, you get connected to the Boogie Beans Community or BBC, as we called it.  A wonderful sandbox to play with all the other people taking this class.

You get to set up your own profile page with art or writing.  You can “friend” others and leave messages on their walls.  In this sandbox you will find a forum with areas such as “Juicy Introductions” where you can introduce yourself.  “Affirmations and Validations,” to go if you need such.  And “Succulent Solutions” for ideas from very loving, giving and wise people.  I’ve never done forums before and this was a safe arena for me to see how it works.

Another forum is “SARK’s Intuitive Flash.” In this area you can leave a short description of a situation and SARK will answer back with her Intuitive Flash.  You can learn a lot about listening to intuition in this class.  I forgot to mention, in last week’s description of the tele-class, that you are put together in small groups on the calls.  Susan gives you instructions to ask for intuitive guidance from people who know nothing about you.  It’s a great way to meet people, but it is also an amazing experience to hear how complete strangers can give you such right-on advice.

On the BBC, you can go at your leisure and download the Boogie Books, listen to interviews or “Inner Views” as SARK calls them, with people she has picked as her favorite dream doers.  And you can watch SARK videos, called Boogie Bursts, as well as find out any new information on the class.

SARK believes that we all deserve mentoring and we are all mentors for each other.  To take this even further, you are put in a group of 3 or 4 other class participants as your Boogie Buddies.  You get direct e-mail access to these people.  Each week SARK delivers a new Boogie Buddy Challenge. These are fun ways you can use each other for mentoring and support. One asks that you identify a fear that is keeping you from moving forward and that you ask your Boogie Buddies for ideas for working with them or ways they have handled these fears.  There are games to play like “A Toy Chest of Virtual Prizes.”  Everyone has a list of the others’ faves, such as  color, books, songs, vacations, what you’d buy if money was no object etc.  And then, when you need something, you can practice receiving one of those things and giving when others ask.

If you feel alone in this class, you are working hard to avoid the support and nurturing that’s everywhere you look.

Today is the last day to get a discount on your entrance fee. But even if you miss it, I’ll say again, it is well-worth every penny. Click here for more information and to sign up.

The Share-N-Tell-A Class

Each week (until SARK’s Dream Boogie class starts up again on September 22nd. ) I’m going to blog my praises of this amazing 8 week experience.

I thought I’d start with the Share N-Tell-A-Classes.  As that’s about where it starts.  The classes, as the title indicates, are over the telephone. This means you can take it from wherever you happen to be. I met a wonderful woman through the class, The Creativity Sage, who hails from Germany.  There were people from Australia and coast- to-coast from the United States. I believe there were people from the far East as well. 

Thanks to the marvelous technology of Maestro Conferencing, SARK and her most able assistant, Trisha, can work magic.  Polls can be taken by simply pressing a button on our phone.  And we can be broken up and opened up to 4 or 5 others for small group discussions.  By some wizardry I’m not familiar with, SARK can stop “in” on these small groups and offer her wisdom.  In one such visit I got advice from her that will carry me far and wide!  This process helps you to get to know the other participants, as well as benefit from one-on-one with SARK.

We start with SARK saying hello and then there’s often a poll to get a gauge of where everyone is.  Then SARK talks to us on one of the eight topics she covers in this class. Then we are given instructions for the games we will play and Trisha randomly puts us in a group.  It’s often a matter of being in the moment and using your intuition, as you are given only a small amount of time to do your part.  This interaction also asks, when you are not giving, to be open to receive and to not judge quickly what is offered.  A wonderful practice of giving and receiving.

We can also, through this technological miracle, “raise our hands” and have Trisha “bring a mic over to us,” so we have a chance to share with all the class.

SARK offers us a Guest Teacher.  None other than Marney Makridakis of Artella Land.  Who manages to keep us going with fun games and her own brand of wisdom.

Some of the topics that are included in the Tell-A-Classes are ~

Discovering What Your Dream Needs
Exploring and Removing What Gets in Your Way
Tools for Passionate Production
Designing a Support System for Your Dreams

This is not the only way SARK builds community through this class.  Next week, I’ll talk about the most amazing Boogie Beans Community or the BBC, where class participants can play in lots of different sand boxes together, get to know each other, and share help and support. 

Save $20 when you sign up by August 15th.  Please click here for more information and to sign up.