Sarah's Blog

Usually, when we choose to do something, it’s for a reason. Sometimes the reason is obvious and sometimes it’s buried deep within our subconscious, but there’s almost always a reason — sometimes two or more. I complete my work each day so that I can continue to afford...

When I stare at a blank page, I’m not filling it with words and ideas and phrases and flourishes in my mind. Rather, I’m filling my own mind with doubts and anxieties and second-guesses.

I feel like, as an adult in the 21st century, I need to be figuratively dining on this perpetual and perfectly proportioned banquet of intentional joy, acceptable grief, and purposeful gratitude. Always back to gratitude.

Even though we can try to be intentional with them… sometimes our expectations seem to spring up out of nowhere, sparked by unspoken desires or inspired by something as small an innocuous as another person’s Instagram post.

I can do a magic trick — I can log in to a social media account and make all of my time disappear! I know, it sounds impossible that one or two or even three whole hours could simply vanish while I’m scrolling past photos of lattes and incendiary political tweets, but… it’s true! Can you relate? Are you a magician, too?

I’m not going to say anything new here, or anything that you haven’t felt more or less intensely for yourself. But I miss going out for a really good cup of coffee.

I’ve been exhausted and burned out to the point of tears lately, and have had several friends gently suggest that it’s time to not only start taking weekends off, but to possibly schedule off an ENTIRE WEEK.

For one writer, success means having fun writing with a good cup of coffee on Saturday mornings. For another, it means selling 10,000 copies of their debut novel. For yet another, it means inking a movie or TV deal. For yet another, it means the quiet approval of just...

Wow. Last week was… A WEEK. Amidst the election anxiety, crises with friends, bad news about a project, and a trip to the ER, I found myself thinking, “But… I was doing everything right!” Life comes at us fast and hits us hard sometimes — even (and, it feels,...

If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of inboxes. You know, those places — physical or digital — where things you need to deal with are deposited. And collect. And grow. You probably have a work or school inbox — projects to wrangle or tasks to complete, phone...

 Last week, we talked about how the act of writing for ourselves isn’t selfish. This week, I really want to ask you, just to make sure — is what you’re creating really for you?  Some of us (myself included, at one point in time) are only writing or creating because we...

The idea that writing and creating is (or should be) fun and easy all the time, or that if you find it difficult then it’s not somehow “for” you, is incredibly toxic.

Where did we get the idea of “selfish”?  Perhaps like you, I first understood the concept of “selfish” as a child, when it was used to label myself or other children when we were acting in a way that deprived someone else of food, toys, crayons, etc. “Sharing is...

Life comes with a tall order of “should”s. We “should” eat more vegetables, exercise every day, take care of our families and friends, volunteer in our communities, read that book, attend that PTA meeting, see that movie, get more sleep, pick up groceries, be present...

Years ago, I attended a community empowerment event for women, where the overall message was, “Say yes to absolutely every opportunity. Shonda Rhimes’ book Year Of Yes had just come out, and it was a popular, liberating, and — for many people, especially women who had...

Help Support This Podcast! >> How does your schedule currently make you feel? Weary? Overwhelmed? Trapped? Suffocated? Depressed? As Jen Carrington asks so succinctly, “Is your schedule a free-for-all that accommodates everyone else’s needs — but not your own?...

Help Support This Podcast! >> We’re all ridiculously busy, trying to work and find time to write, exercising, picking up the kids from school (or teaching them at home), making dinner, reading, taking online classes, spending quality time with our loved ones and...

Help Support This Podcast! >> “What is your most prized possession?”  Years ago, when I was a teenager in my church’s youth group, our pastor asked us this question, in what (I think) was a lesson on the ultimate emptiness of materialism. As an outwardly...

Help Support This Podcast! >> I crave a lot of things in life — achievement, recognition, financial freedom, healthy relationships, peace and quiet, chocolate. But I’ve never craved work/life balance (or, as we discussed in the previous email, work/life/passion...

Help Support This Podcast! >> Back in 2014, I was thinking of starting a podcast.The only thing was, I was already working 40+ hours a week at a demanding job, volunteering in my community, enrolled in a women’s leadership program, and trying to be present for...

Creativity Myth #10: Failure is bad. Here’s why it’s a myth!

How much money do I make by podcasting? There are a lot of ways to make money podcasting and a lot of ways to talk about it — notably, direct vs. indirect podcast income.

Creativity Myth #9: You need to create a flawless masterpiece.

I thought I was immune, hiding here in my little office in South Dakota; I thought I was exempt somehow, that “I should be so much farther ahead” with all the “extra free time” the pandemic and quarantine have afforded us. I was wrong.

Creativity Myth #8: I don’t have the time or energy to be creative.

Creativity Myth #7: Society doesn’t want what I’m creating.

Creativity Myth #6: It’s possible to “run out of” creativity, so be careful with what you have.

Creativity Myth #5: You don’t have to be 100% original to be creative.

Have you ever found yourself… searching for distractions? I know, it sounds like…

Even though I know in the depths of my heart that this is the work I am meant to do, and that I am living out my true purpose when I am writing and creating… I still struggle to prioritize it.⁠

A lot of us get frustrated when we jump into something and we’re not good at it right away. For me, this is never more evident than when I go bowling.⁠..

Creativity Myth #4: You need to live in a big city or work at a company with a slide to be creative.