My blog & shop have moved!

Hello there lovely,

Thanks for visiting!!! Please visit me over at marjoriesarah.com where I'm writing weekly and have a beautiful shop set up for my soap, lip balm & bath salts!

See you there.

Be well,
marjorie sarah

see the good

I usually begin my morning meditations with the line, "Fill yourself up with love and compassion, you are a worthwhile and compassionate being." Sometimes it just feels right and sometimes I need the reminder.

I listen to a lot of personal development content and it consistently reminds me to see the good in everything that comes my way. Most of the time this task comes naturally to me, so I enjoy it. Sometimes I'm consumed with anxiety and all I can see is blurry tension, but those occurrences have definitely decreased in the past few years.

When I'm in line at a store and someone comments on "How scary the world is today," or "How crazy everyone is," or "How it's different today than it used to be," (and by different they mean terrible) ... I just say "Hm." What I want to say is, "When I look for good and beauty, I see it everywhere." Or, "Statistically speaking, it's technically safer these days than it was when my parents grew up, crime rates are actually lower." Thanks for pointing that one out to me Emily!

I always want to choose to see the good. The good in people, the good in someone else's words and intentions, the good in the difficult lesson that may be so painful for me to understand or come to terms with. Doing this can be effortless at times, or it can be consuming and exhausting and leave me questioning everything. Regardless, I'm always working to see the good. Operative word = working.

Shine and smile,
Marjorie

we are all alone, together

As I've grown and discovered ways of the world that resonate with me, some of the most powerful and comforting ideas were at first unsettling. I guess because they were so different than opinions I'd previously held, however, those opinions were of people and family and culture that I am a part of but that are not entirely me. I realize now that I'd felt so very empty for so very long because I had no connection to me, no conversation with my inner knowing, no understanding of what the heck my life was all about.


Ironically, becoming a mother, having someone else depend on me for everything, is what led me to me and these concurrent actions: those of self-discovery and motherhood, blow my mind every time I think of them.


Why did all these changes happen when I became a mother? Someone close to me reminded me that I was well on my way to self-discovery at the time I became a mother, they just collided and both happened at once. Ah, yes, now that she said it, I could understand. I thought motherhood caused this, for me, but it was multi-layered and even a little bigger than just one thing. The stars had aligned.


There are really no things that I am sure of. I'm always learning, evolving and trying to look inward in an effort to feel more connected to my inner light so that I can in turn help those around me feel more connected and at peace. I change my mind a lot and I look at that as a positive thing - an exercise in flexibility.


This journey towards self made me feel alone and sad at times. But I also find comfort in the fact that I have the power to make the changes that are good for me. I have the strength to be the me that I am here to be. I have the courage to create and express myself because I, and I alone, know what soothes my soul and makes my inner light shine brighter than imaginable. I also find comfort in knowing that every single person has the same power, the same strength and the same courage - so when I am supporting someone through a challenge, knowing this (that they have the power) takes away the helpless feeling that creeps up at times because you can't make changes for other people, only they can.


I'm so grateful for every path in my life that has led me to here and so many people through all the years that have encouraged me to be me. I realize that without them, I'd still be lost without a map. I have my inner map now and I continue to wander.

Why I love making lip balm, and everything else...

I think I'm addicted to creating things. It's an outlet for me, like many others. I've always loved to scrapbook, read, journal, bake, make just about anything I could get my hands and glue on. Once I start the process, things just flow because I get really excited. I move so fast that I make mistakes but then I laugh at them as evidence that I was in my creative brain and not my critical brain - which is where I really want to be!

I've always loved science, labs especially, where you get to mix stuff up. I think that's part of the reason I'm really enjoying mixing up so many batches of lip balms lately. And bath salts. And lotion. And sugar scrubs. And makeup. And deodorant. Sean couldn't stop me if he tried! Hehe - well, actually he doesn't try, he only ever encourages me and supports me and helps me with the recipes when lots of numbers are involved. He's the best. Remember in high school when you had to convert cm to inches or mL to gallons? NOW I get it! This is why! When I'm converting drops of essential oils in order to perfect the dilution amount, I need to know that stuff so that I can understand the percentages. Ahhh, it's all coming full circle.

I'm feeling blessed and hugged by life and the energy around me is fluffy. A good fluffy. I'm continuing to search for gratitude and the days when I'm constantly complaining, in my head or with my mouth, I struggle and strive to remember that this life is what I make of it. And sometimes that's enough to rope me back in. And sometimes I need yoga or a cup of tea to ground my feet and not fall out of the "tree pose" that is my life.

much love this holiday season radiates from me to you!

xo, marjorie sarah

Gift From the Sea - my personal takeaway

A close friend recommended I read Gift From The Sea. I realized why it sounded so familiar, it was a book I’d seen for years on my mom’s bookshelf, completely unaware of what treasures filled its pages. I asked my mom if I could borrow it. We arrived on vacation and my mom brought me my own copy – one that she had purchased for her mom years ago. The bookmark still remained. It is one of those bookmarks with your name and the meaning. Being that I was named after my mom’s mom, it’s extra special that the bookmark says “Marjorie.”

I started the little book on vacation and finished it soon after my return home. It seems appropriate to share my thoughts with other mothers at a similar stage in motherhood where I find myself and where I understand Anne Morrow Lindbergh found herself when she authored it.

Written in 1955, 60 years ago, I was struck by her take on the world all those years ago. Much of it speaks to me as if it were written this morning. Modern amenities and endless distractions that make life busier and more challenging at times...I can relate! How we are fortunate enough to have the option to choose how complex or simple our lives are. That made me think about my choices and what do they say about me? How solitude and space are necessary for a woman to grow and be and think. How it felt as if she was losing an appendage when she said goodbye to her family for some time away but once she was gone, she knew it would all be ok.

Morrow Lindbergh beautifully provided insights to the ebbs and flows of relationships – relationships between romantic partners, sisters, mother and child – using her treasured seashells as metaphors. Many of you may find yourself in what the author described as the “Oyster Bed.” Here is how she describes it:

“It is an oyster, with small shells clinging to its humped back…Sprawling and uneven…It looks rather like the house of a big family, pushing out one addition…to hold its teeming life…It is untidy, spread out in all directions, heavily encrusted with accumulations.” (80, Morrow Lindbergh)

I know that sounds much like my oyster bed of a house. Amazingly awesome and full of life yet chaotic and almost crazy making at times when everyone including the dog beckons me for breakfast simultaneously. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t like it. These are the days of my life.

She reminds us how therapeutic work can be when we are not rushed and how simple pleasures of earth and conversation are fulfilling. When she talks of “purposeful giving” she perfectly explains it as:

“Is not as apt to deplete one’s resources; it belongs to the natural order of giving that seems to renew itself even in the act of depletion. The more one gives, the more one has to give – like milk in the breast.” 

And she further explains,

“Even purposeful giving must have some source that refills it. The milk in the breast must be replenished by food taken into the body. If it is the woman’s function to give, she must be replenished too. But how?” (47-48, Morrow Lindbergh)

I’m so grateful for the personal essays Anne shared with me and so many for the past 60 years. Her reflections answer her question of how to replenish and what those moments of solitude and intention did to refuel her soul. 

How Natural Birth Deepened My Yoga Practice

I've always been drawn to yoga, even before I "understood" it. Even when I was in high school I wanted to do it, but wasn't sure what it was all about. I know I practiced yoga when I was younger, but it wasn't until the past couple of years that I've felt connected to my practice. And it wasn't until after I gave birth to my second child that I felt an even deeper connection.


Preparing for natural birth, I read many books and blogs and did a lot of work to prepare my mind. Breath work, and understanding that breathing is a tool to stay present and not fly and wander, was very helpful to me. I believed the tools would help, but it wasn't until I was living the labor and doing what I'd been so prepared for, did I fully understand what it all meant. I felt like I was mindfulness embodied, for the first time in my life.


Natural labor and birth were both a challenge and a reward. Now when I am in a pose on the mat that I think I can't tolerate for one more second, I go back to the breath and the patience that I know I have because I experienced it during labor and birth. I think, "Oh, right, I know how to do this, and this is easier than childbirth!"


In addition, Ujjayi breath has helped me calm a fussy baby, sooth a little one to sleep and find my inner stillness. Also something that I don't think I'd be so in tune with without my natural birth.


I'm simply fascinated! I had no idea that all the work I did to prepare for a natural birth would have rewarded me down the road into a deeper practice.


Namaste!

Other Parents

One of the most surprising things about being a parent is how cool other parents can be. Like when you are at the mall and someone rushes to help you with the door with a smile while saying, "It seems like just yesterday." Or they'll say, "I remember when mine were that little, now they have babies!" It's so sweet really.

One day when I was in Whole Foods, I think I was pregnant with Meadow, and Brady was being your typical two-year-old (adorable and energetic, running away from me while I tried to look like this was my plan all along... so everybody just keep making your salads and stop looking annoyed at my curly haired energy ball). I finally scooped him up as we ordered our 2 slices of pizza.

A guy next to me just looked and smiled and was clearly remembering his son when he shared, "Man those days are the best and they just go so fast." The twinkle in his eye almost made me tear up. I am now as I write this actually. I always ask about other people's kids when they mention them, because who doesn't want to talk about their kids? So I did and he shared that he has two - and his son, the oldest, is about graduate from high school. Clearly an emotional benchmark for him and many parents, I could just see his face light up as he ran through the years with his son and I laughed and said that this is probably a really exciting time for his family right now. He laughed back and joked that it was but his son, being 17, was most interested in his friends and how he missed those days of always having his little buddy. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I love these stories.

And when I feel like I'm boiling over or embarrassed in Whole Foods, or wherever, and I see that helpful "other parent" or that twinkle in another parent's eye when they share their memories, Trace Atkins starts playing, "You're Gonna Miss This," in the background of my mind. And the words go, "You're gonna miss this, you're gonna want this back, you're gonna wish these days, hadn't gone by so fast, these are some good times, so take a good look around..." A great song.

I love these days and I know for a fact that I will miss them. As crazy as things are right now with a beautiful 12 week-old daughter and my loving 2.5 year-old son, I still love when I reread previous journal entries where I mentioned that these are the best days of my life. It's so exciting to be living them but so sad to know that they are always changing and like all things, change is the only constant. I know someday I'll be the woman sharing the stories about my little buddies and it's hard to wrap my head around that fact.

With love,
Marjorie