Your stardust is showing

I can see it, can you?

Just as an experiment, I narrated today’s newsletter. So, if you’re on a walk, or in your car and would prefer to listen, just hit play! This newsletter is for YOU so please let me know if you want me to do more of this :)

On with the newsletter!

Oh helllllllo, how are we today?

I’m actually fantastic. The fog is lifting and I’m remembering who I am and how grateful I am for all the beauty in my life. So, “hi!” from a place of optimism and abundance which I am currently death gripping and clinging to for dear life before it goes away. That’s how the Buddhists say we should move through life, right? Grasping?

I guess finding out that Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies has sold over 200,000 copies will put you in such a good mood that you go buy yourself the f*cking balloons!

I am taking full advantage of this good mood moment to talk to you about STARDUST. Yes, my fav topic IN THE UNIVERSE!

If you’ve read Glow in the F*cking Dark (I vouch for it!) then you know that one of the first steps in recovering my soul, or my most authentic self, or whatever you want to call it, was learning that I am MADE of stardust. Literally. I found this out under non-ideal circumstances. I was pulled over on the side of highway 40 in the Mojave desert experiencing the unwanted love child of a panic attack and a dissociative episode. You see, I had been running my whole life from all the things I hated about myself: depression, anxiety, loneliness, my childhood...the greatest hits! But all those things had finally outrun and overwhelmed me.

As I sat there, pulled over, out of my mind and out of control, I looked up at the night sky and saw what I can only describe as a star field. I thought to myself, “can I shine like that, even in the dark?” It was at that moment that I decided to start googling the shi* out of stars and THAT’S when I learned that humans are made of stardust. For real.

It’s not some cutesy message you see painted on an Etsy mug (tho I would buy that mug), it’s just science. Nearly ALL of the elements in your body come from stars. If you don’t believe me, how bout Dr. Ashley King of the Natural History Museum? Hmmm? “It is totally 100% true: nearly all the elements in the human body were made in a star and many have come through several supernovas.” WHABAM! SCIENCE FOR THE WIN!

Knowing this fact has saved my ass more times than I can remember. I HATE when I read in self-help books, “you’re enough as you are.” I’m like, “really? You don’t even know me!” But a scientific fact I can’t mess with. When I feel like I’m not enough, or I’m not good, or I’m not worthy, all I have to do is remember that I am made of stars. I don’t have to turn into someone else, my star dust self is already in me. And! What do we say about stars? Have you EVER heard someone diss a star? Have you ever heard someone say, “yeah, but that star didn’t finish her to-do list?” NO, YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD THIS BECAUSE IT’S NOT A THING. In fact, in this totally fractured time there is one thing we all still agree on: stars are miracles. And if stars are miracles and we are made of stars…well…doesn’t it just make sense that at our core we are just good and beautiful and miraculous?

Since my stardust self is an irrefutable fact, I can’t fight it or trick my mind into criticizing me. Now, when I feel low, I close my eyes and just imagine myself being filled up from the top of my head, down to my shoulders, and belly, and thighs, and legs, and feet, with glittering, glorious stardust. I sit in that visualization for a few moments and I always feel better because I have remembered the essential truth of who I am.

So, if you have gotten a little lost I have a short cut to getting a little found: look up at the night sky, see the animating force of the universe smiling at you and from within in you.

I hope you will try this visualization with me. Please let me know if it helps in the comments!

Oh! I almost forgot!

If you’re interested in my mini-workshop “Befriending the Frenemy Within: Learning Self-Acceptance,” I am giving away a free, self-acceptance Ejournal! But only to those who register by Sunday. So, if you’ve been on the fence, it’s time to jump over and get on in here! It’s going to be lovely. Here’s one email I received from someone who already signed up that made me smile real big.

Testify

Your questions, comments, triumphs, heartaches, adventures, and insights. All of it is welcome here. I love featuring your art, journals, and pictures of triumph! Please send ‘em along! (Submissions lightly edited for brevity.)

A reader who gave me the warmest welcome to Substack…I found you after browsing my library app looking for an audiobook to listen to as I cleaned my house. When I saw "Buy Yourself the Fucking Lilies" I knew you were my people. A handful of hours later, my house was still a mess because I was taking down notes, ordering cute journals and a hard copy of your book online, and generally preparing to buy myself the f*cking lilies. I'm not on social media anymore (an act of self-love I committed for myself last year) so I'm SO PUMPED that you're on Substack. 

-Sarah g

Maybe my favorite compliment for “Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies”….“[Lilies] feels like Eat, Pray, Love but on a budget and with more practicality.” - Luc B