The gifts of sadness

Dear precious soul Sara,  Happy April to your heart. April is my birthday month, and I always treasure its arrival. Here I am in the beginnings of my life—I like to imagine this photograph was taken in April. The other day, sadness arrived. So I took myself to Golden Gate Park to scoop up some beauty, and sit with sadness at the same time. It's so tempting to turn away from sadness, to feel like I don't have time for it. But I've learned that sadness will wait patiently—sometimes persistently—until it receives some love and attention. It doesn't care how busy I am. I've also learned to listen closely when sadness comes, because it always carries a gift. The gift of presence. When I can be truly present with my sadness, it becomes just that: a present. It happened to be a Saturday, and I suddenly noticed the word "sad" nestled right inside it. Sadurday. I'd never seen it that way before. Later, when I returned home, my husband David greeted me cheerfully: "Happy Saturday!" At first, it felt like an interruption to my sad feelings. And then I remembered: Joy and sadness are best friends. They travel well together. So when sadness visits, I practice welcoming it. Sitting with it. Letting it be a friend of my heart. I send you the willingness to do the same. ,   If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please manage your subscription. 1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US

A Dream, A Journal + A Cat Named Jupiter

Dear kind soul Sara,

Who + What is SARK?

For those who might be new to SARK—and even for those familiar—there will be some fun reminders in this story. And of course if you know me, you know I write about the terrible as well as the wonderfull things in life.
(Note: This email includes mention of a suicide attempt.)

I first appeared as SARK in the world in 1982 when the author Henry Miller gave me that name in a dream—after he had died. Inspired, I legally added Ariel Rainbow to my name, becoming Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, which spells SARK.

At the time, I was living on barter and trade in the Victorian Hotel of Arts and Music in San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle began publishing my SARK drawings every Sunday, and I made $25 a week. My art kept expanding—literally—until it became larger than the tiny room I was living in.

So, I placed an ad in a free paper: "Incredible housesitter seeks incredible house."

That ad led me to a mansion on Russian Hill, where I lived for two years until it sold—after they finally listened to my advice about why it wasn't selling!

During this time, I created my first line of greeting cards and received a $10,000 advance—the first large amount of money I had ever made with my art. But while my creative life was growing, I was also confronting painfull memories of childhood incest. I hadn't eaten or slept in two weeks and thought suicide was my only option.

Thankfully, my attempt did not succeed. When I called the suicide prevention hotline, the person on the line asked, "Did you really want to die? Or did you just want the pain to end?"

I just wanted the pain to end. That moment led me to therapy, deep healing, and ultimately, a reclamation of myself and my soul—including healing within my family.

Meanwhile, I had written a poem in my journal called How to Be an Artist—a reminder that we are all artists of life. One day, over tea in my Magic Cottage in San Francisco, a guest read it and said, "That should be a poster!"

So I tore it out of my journal, taped it to the wall, and said, "There! Now it's a poster."

They laughed. "No, I meant a poster for the world."

I told them I wouldn't have any idea how to do that. My friend insisted, "Well, someone does!" But I said I had no idea how to find that person. I have since learned so much about how we stop ourselves by what we think we don't know how to do!

Luckily, my young cat Jupiter started peeling the poster off the wall every day. It would land on the floor with a big whoosh! And wake me up.

After three days, I got the message. I took the poster to a store that had a catalog, and they offered to include it—"Don't expect anything," they said. Which I thought was entirely reasonable, since I had been practicing making friends with freedom and uncertainty.

Then, the real magic began.

Within days, 200 orders came in. I made 200 posters by hand. Then 300 more orders—so I made 300 more. I then prayed no one else would buy it:)

But the orders kept coming, so I got creative. I figured out a way to use high-quality color Xerox to produce each poster while still keeping the handmade feel. In the end, I made 11,000 handcrafted pieces before finally turning to a better distribution system.

Over 2 million posters have now been sold.

By then, I had started a company called Camp SARK, created 18 other posters, and in 1990, published my first of 19 bestselling books.

And it all began with a dream, a journal, and a cat named Jupiter.

SARK continues to grow in ways I never imagined, and I'm so gratefully glad to share this journey with all of you. I see myself as a representative of the SARK spirit—one that lives in all of us.
Thank you for inspiring me endlessly! 

And soon, I'll be sharing something wonderfully special—introducing someone who has been part of my journey in the most magical way.

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1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US

Even More Love, Especially Now

Dearest Evolving Human Soul Sara, As I travel through this life, I remain endlessly enthralled by the ways love shows up. This man, this spirit named David—my husband, co-mentor, business partner, dad, brother, son, friend, Angel of Love, and dearly beloved—keeps showing up for love every single day. I captured this photo just after his laughter, in yet another moment of hilarity amidst the full spectrum of feelings that life brings. David has been recording and sending daily audio love notes since December after waking up to hear the message: "Be and live as the ever-expanding house of bliss." Bliss, in this case, stands for: Beaming Love In Sacred Service This is his practice, his ministry, one of his many ways of being visible to love. I am reminded (again) that we are all called to love, in every way we can, no matter what outer circumstances show. It is so easy to feel crushed, flattened, depleted, and defeated in the midst of heartbreaking events, isn't it? There are endless ways to resist love—and suffer in its absence. But there is also a conscious call to practice loving in the midst of it all. The other day, a woman left a message on my Inspiration Phone Line. She had read about how I chose to "date the world" after my fiancé John died in 2016—how that decision led to David responding in a big, loving way—and how, together and separately, we now practice loving and dating the world in as many ways as possible. She asked: "How do I love and date the world as you describe?" And then, in the next breath, she answered herself: "I guess I will find my own ways to do it, no matter what else happens." And so we all will. I'll be introducing David to you more fully soon—as the Angel of Love in this world. For now, here is one of his audio love notes. Here is the Inspiration Line (freely offered 25 hours a day since 1993): 📞 415-546-3742 You are seen. You are known. You are loved. ,   If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please manage your subscription. 1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US

Be Reel

Dear Dreaming Deep Sara, On Valentine's night, my husband David and I went out to see the full moon rise in our neighborhood in San Francisco. I had gotten ready quickly and threw a coat on over my white cotton pajamas. David is also known as the Angel of Love, and we're about to announce something new and magical. We want to use reels to connect and share the news. 💜 Suddenly, David said, "Let's just do a reel right now." We had talked about capturing and sharing moments of our lives, but of course, that was always something we'd do later. Not at this moment—not with me in my pajamas and both of us in our hats, standing in the semi-darkness. And yet, 15 seconds later, we had recorded our first reel! It's so tiny and funny that I—having been filmed and recorded in countless ways over my 40+ years as SARK—and David, who was once a Hollywood movie producer, found something as simple as recording a reel to somehow feel complex or daunting. But shyness and perfectionism can play on screens inside all of our minds. They definitely sometimes play in mine. Plus, I often get nervous when doing something new, which surprises the other braver parts of me:-) One of our main missions is to communicate Even More Love with the world, and David and I are committed to using technology in every fun way to do so. You can see our first reel here, and we'll be creating and sharing more along the way, and letting you know all about our magical news soon. We love you,  (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) + David (Angel of Love) If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please manage your subscription. 1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US

Happy Valentine's LIFE

Dear soul of luminous reflection Sara,  Have a Valentine's LIFE. You are the artist and valentine of your own life. ❤️🩷 Here is a version of my print with a happy rainbow exclamation that appeared above it on the wall the other day. I send you a Valentine's life where your soul is seen, known and loved, and you are able to choose love more often than fear. Keep choosing.  In the midst of despair, you are able to know that joy didn't depart forever. That in fact, it stepped aside so you could spend some time with despair and practice loving that emotion too. Where you do the deep and necessary psychological excavations and repairs. Where you cry as easily and often as laughing, and there's less distinction. Where you choose peace over trying to be right. Where you rise up and act for what's right. Where you lie down frequently and rest guiltlessly. Where you love wildly with all your faucets turned on, and have beautifull boundaries in place. Where you realize that you are here as much to feel as you are to heal, and that you and life keep moving and feeling forward. My husband David, my co-mentor and an Angel of Love, reminds me every day in every way about seeing with eyes of love as much as possible, and we both practice alchemizing when things look and feel terrible. I like to describe it as the marvelous messy middle. How are you, or can you be, loving in this moment? 💓Let us know where your love is FLOWING. Here's our love for you and your Valentines LIFE. (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)  + David, the Angel of Love  If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please manage your subscription. 1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US

When nothing works

Dear human soul called Sara, During every terrible time in my life, and in this world, when it feels like nothing works or ever will work, I ask for miracles. One of the best ways to activate miracles is to go on what I call a miracle walk.  I started creating and going on miracle walks many years ago when I lived for a decade outside of the money system on barter and trade. I'd walk out with my palms up and say, "Miracle, find me now." And then I would walk until I saw or experienced a miracle. I experienced a LOT of real life miracles, and continue to do so.  On this day, I walked around the corner and suddenly saw these polka dotted people sitting on a bench, and just stopped in astonishment at the miracle of their attire. Of course I thanked them voluminously for appearing before me. Seeing them reminded me that even though it felt like nothing was working, miracles were.  And it wasn't their polka dots that changed me, it was my mood and attitude that got adjusted because of seeing them. That brief polka dot moment gave me the willingness to face and feel the terrible things, and the difficult feelings I was feeling about them. And that willingness to feel leads to healing. Sometimes I add words or descriptions to my miracle walking, saying things like, "Miracle mood find me now," "Miracle person find me now," "Miracle money find me now." Then I practice tuning my vision to see miracles- tiny or large, everywhere I go. Sometimes they're not as obvious as polka dotted people;-) but they're always there.  I have countless stories of miracles happening. I believe that miracles love to be asked for, and multiply when we do. And, you can ask badly and it still works. There are so many terrible things, and so many miracles to multiply.  Wishing you many more miracles and the willingness to see and experience them- especially when it feels like nothing is working. (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)  P.S. A few years ago, I experienced the miracle of being interviewed by the illuminated Lee Harris. I decided it would be wonderfull to re-share it with you today. 💜 Lee is a miracle awakener in this world and you can listen right HERE. We talk about creative dreams made REAL, miracles of loss and love, and how we are ALL artists and creatives.  If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please manage your subscription. 1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US

Despair is medicine

Dear kindred human Sara, This December I experienced a new low point. There had been some health and financial challenges, and after the US election results, I descended into a significant depression. During this time, I was also being taken on tours of the underworld in dreams that showed me truly terrible things in our world.  It felt like a dark night of the soul and then my intuition told me that I was witnessing and experiencing more like a dark night of the collective whole. Also during this time, I was privileged to be able to take some weeks away from work, and that's when I became more aware of the many difficult feelings I had been resisting feeling. I knew that these feelings wanted my attention, but I had been resisting in every way- even though I knew that my feelings of suffering were because of my resistance! All my life, I've been acutely aware of how bad things can get and be, especially during the many years I was being abused in my family. I became very familiar with the feeling of despair, and lived intimately with it. Despair is not a popular feeling, and almost no one willingly wants to feel or experience it- including myself. Yet the medicine of despair lives in the feeling of it. So when I emerged from the depression, I finally turned towards despair and said its name out loud, "Despair, I see you, I hear you, I acknowledge you." I felt a slight easing of the feeling of despair as I repeated the acknowledgement. If despair had shoulders, I could feel and see its shoulders soften and come down. And so we sat, despair and I. As other painfull feelings arose, I was able to similarly acknowledge them also, and I began to feel joy return. And I was reminded again that joy doesn't leave during passages of difficult feelings- it steps aside to give the less popular feelings a chance to be felt. It always surprises me how quickly healing happens when feeling can occur. And so, I keep practicing feeling. Join me if you wish. I know you join me in being human and sometimes going through terrible things- I believe that more we can express openly about these kinds of times, the more we can help each other. (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy)  P.S. If you would like this healing art print, you can find it here.  If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please manage your subscription. 1288 Columbus Ave, #151, City Of Love, SARK Francisco, CA 94133, US