Doorways of Support and Inspiration:
Healing Mind, Body and Spirit

Succulent Creativity Can Heal Your Life, Part I:

A Two-Part  Interview with SARK by Alissa Lukara

 

SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) is the author and artist of eleven books, including the best-selling, Succulent Wild Woman. There are over two million SARK books in print. She is an acclaimed speaker and teacher and has a company, Camp SARK. Dr. Maya Angelou writes, "We in this world, and this weary old world itself, have a great gaping need for SARK. Let's call for more and more SARK to fill every child's book bag and each attaché case." Her latest book, Prosperity Pie: How to Relax about Money and Everything Else, explores how we can be and feel prosperous no matter how much we have or don't have, or what our outside circumstances and challenges may be. As in all her inspiring and imaginative books, SARK shares her own process of exploring who she is and how she responds both to life’s challenges and its kaleidoscope of pleasures.

 

Alissa Lukara recently interviewed SARK about the power of creativity to heal one’s life, the importance of both progress and regression, healing in spirals and more. You can read Part II of this interview here.

ALISSA: I’ve been studying the healing power of art and creativity. There are many incredible programs being done in hospitals and elsewhere. You’re an amazing example of that. You live your art and create art from your living.

 

SARK: Creativity healed me. I don’t know that I could think of any word that I get more inspired by than the word healing. Matching creativity with healing is the shortest version of describing what my life’s work is. From my childhood, when I was being abused and molested—the incest pattern started in my family when I was around seven—I was healed by the creativity in books. My favorite spot was in the apple tree in the backyard where I built this little reading station in the branches. I clambered up there and had my books in a little carton. I had everything I needed to escape into the pages. I was able to create a world that was completely different than the one I was living in, which was full of fear and defense and lies.

 

Then, that expanded to the libraries. My first grade teacher said she would give an award to anyone who was willing to read a book every day. I quickly applied for that and became one of her best readers. Her name was Mrs. Gooler. I still remember her. God bless her.

 

Right around that time, I made the announcement in class that I should be the one to do “show and tell” every day. My mother tried to explain that other students needed to say things, too, but I said, “They’re not saying anything. I’m finding all these things to share, so they should just let me do it.” This same wise teacher arranged with the fifth grade teacher that I could present “show and tell” daily to the fifth grade. I just loved it.

 

Healing with creativity continued into adulthood. After a suicide attempt in my mid-thirties, I was a creative procrastinator. I would start creative projects. But I’d never complete things, so they could be shared with anyone else or I could have a sense of being creatively active. After I started therapy, I finally turned full speed toward my creative self and let it take over.

 

Turning Toward Creativity

 

ALISSA: Was there anything that you can pinpoint as that turning point? Expressing creativity is such a huge issue for people.

 

SARK: The alternatives were all so dreadful. I’d come to an end point. I’d done all these jobs. I’d lived without money. I’d been self destructive. The one thing I hadn’t tried was being consistently creatively involved. It was kind of the last thing. I hadn’t ever worked on my procrastination. I hadn’t studied it or practiced new ways. I knew I did it, but I had no idea how to stop.

 

I plunged into self-study, mostly reading and talking to people. I looked at procrastination and money, which were both issues. I fashioned what I’d call the University of Myself. I gained knowledge and practiced the ideas I found in these books. I started getting quite wonderful results.

 

One thing procrastinators do is rehearse in their minds. So in my mind, I kept seeing that I wasn’t going to be creatively successful if I didn’t become well-known somehow or if I wasn’t spending a significant amount of each day thoroughly involved in creativity. It’s also what the inner critic does.

 

Making Micro-Movements

 

Literally, I couldn’t make a move listening to the messages of the procrastinator or the inner critic. So, I developed my system of Micromovements. I started having creative movements in tiny ways. I’d write a paragraph in my journal in a day. But that was more than I’d written ever. After a while, I started stacking. I noticed I got to two pages in a day. Then, maybe I’d do two pages and do a drawing. As I saw the evidence of my completion, I gained confidence. [Editor’s Note: SARK invented Micromovements as a method of completing projects in time spans of 5 minutes or less. I include a link to a pdf worksheet on SARK’s Micromovements at the end of this interview.]

 

ALISSA: It reminds me of when I had CFIDS and could only concentrate for 15 minutes at a time. In the universe’s infinite wisdom, a woman appeared in my life who invited me to be part of a writer’s group. Amazingly, they did 15 minute writing exercises. That was my limit, so I said, “I can do that.” I was staggered by what came out in 15 minutes. I got so turned on by just that 15 minutes.

 

SARK: Yes, once again, we don’t have to take a three hour class nor do a three hour exercise. With regard to Micromovements, I’m also reminded of what’s going on with my mother. She’s in a nursing home and hasn’t been able to walk. What’s happening is a miracle. It began when the physical therapy department of the nursing home dropped her, saying she’d make no further progress. She was furious and said she thought she was.

 

We found another team of physical therapists. These individuals had formed their company in direct response to how Medicare doesn’t follow people during their actual progress, but by an arbitrary rate of progress. I recently got the call that she’ll be taking her first step soon. When we’re taking Micromovements, we have to remember that there can be a different approach. Discovering that what you’re trying doesn’t work doesn’t mean what you hope to accomplish isn’t going to work. Look for another solution.

 

ALISSA: In terms of creativity or a challenged place, many times people are so caught in the challenge that they can’t see their way out of it or beyond it.

 

SARK: That’s really well said. Mainly, we can’t see our way out. We’re not often given the vision to see beyond where we are, especially in the darkest time. I believe this is the exact description of faith. If we could see that we could get out of it, we wouldn’t be so scared.

 

ALISSA: No, absolutely. It’s important to make Micromovements toward a goal, and it’s important sometimes to be in that void space, too.

 

Progress and Regression

 

SARK: I always think of the quote by Thomas Moore, who wrote Care of the Soul. He said, “The soul needs regression as much as it needs progress.” We’re always thinking about progress. “I’ll do this, and then I’ll get that.” But we need to find out who we are when we’re flailing around, desperate, when our hair is stuck to the side of our face and we’re having a tooth problem, when things are falling down around us. Who are we then? We can’t always find out who we are by progress. It doesn’t have the same lessons. The soil consistency is different.

 

ALISSA: There’s an energy that can happen from letting go and being in that place.

 

SARK: Yes, just think of the energy of rage.

ALISSA: That’s a lot of energy that doesn’t respond well to being contained or controlled. You can’t just meditate it away without acknowledging it.

 

SARK: Did you enjoy the story of my being vomited on?

 

ALISSA: Yes. Particularly by a man in a tuxedo.

[Note: In SARK’s July e-letter, she relates the story of a dinner with her agents which took place after her Learning Annex workshop in New York City. She went down narrow stairs to the restaurant bathroom. Before going up again, she had to wait until a man in a tuxedo on the stairwell came down. The stairs were too narrow for both of them. Suddenly, she was soaked. The man had vomited on her, and her eyes, hair and clothing were dripping.]

 

SARK: Projectile vomiting from a floor above is quite impressive. It was funnier, because from the event, I also had a giant bouquet of flowers taller than my head and a giant purple bag so full of participants’ gifts that I couldn’t close it. On top of that, the limousine never came to pick me up. Unexpectedly, I had to take a cab and realized—after I’d already left the restaurant—that I didn’t know the address of my hotel. It was raining. The cab driver didn’t speak English and was impatient. When he took me to where I thought the hotel was, it wasn’t. He screamed at me. I screamed back and threw money over the seat. At 2 a.m., I was standing alone in the rain with all these objects not knowing where I was. The point of all this is that we have to find out who we are in those times, not just the times we’re supposedly making progress.

 

ALISSA: Who were you?

SARK: I was matching his energy. The screaming felt liberating to my Midwestern nice girl self. It was fury, really.

 

ALISSA: How did you get to the hotel?

 

SARK: I went into another one and the people there helped me.

 

ALISSA: Would you give some more examples of your life as healing and art—how you live that now?

 

Taking Creative Challenges

 

SARK: It forms everything I do. Anything I’m able to offer anyone else comes directly from my own experiences of it. On a daily basis, I’m engaged in healing: physical healing, emotional healing, psychic healing, spiritual healing. Being an artist of life is even a larger practice than doing creative activities. Living one’s live creatively—living my life creatively—is a marvelous challenge. An interviewer for a women’s magazine asked me, “Even as well known as you are, do you still need to practice?” I said, joking. “Oh no. I’m very evolved and there’s no practice involved. I’ve reached a very high level.” I’m just amazed when people still think that. What are they thinking? It makes me speechless. People say, “Oh, you’ve done so much,” and I feel like I’ve barely started. There’s so much more I want to do and be.

 

For example, I speak to large groups of people. I enjoy it and have become quite effective. When I do that, I now feel quite myself. But recently, I challenged myself to something new: speed dating. I met 10 men for 10 minutes each. We sat in folding chairs and talked. The point is I went to it. I was a basket case. The correlation is I’d rather be going to speak to 500 people than to present myself one on one as a possible romantic candidate.  

 

I did it specifically because of how scared I was. If I want to take violin lessons, I don’t want to give up because I start out so incredibly incompetent that I don’t know how to hold a violin. I continually creatively challenge myself and look for places I’ve become stagnant without knowing it. For instance, I realize that I feel new paintings coming, but I haven’t started them. That’s okay. But I also remember that and let it come through.

 

ALISSA: Let me focus this on your writing for a moment. You write so effectively about your life path and healing on that path. I’ve actually been reading about the healing power of writing. There was a study that found when people write about challenges in a way that they’re connected to themselves and not just venting, their immune systems improve.

 

SARK: I was clear that I wrote my books to heal myself. It was a marvelous side effect that they help others. I like to say to people, “Remember to delight yourself first, and then others can be truly delighted.” To take that deeper--Remember to heal yourself first, and then others can be truly healed. That’s the spirit with which people engage with my books. They can tell that I’m doing the work on myself. I also admit the times I’m not doing the work.

 

ALISSA: Which is wonderful, because your humanity comes through.

 

SARK: It’s also permission. If SARK can admit she’s lying around reading magazines and watching copious amounts of television and hiding from her new painting, how helpful.

 

ALISSA: Then there’s hope for other people, too.

 

SARK: Yes.

 

Healing Happens In Spirals

 

ALISSA: You talk in your books about healing happening in spirals and layers. That’s definitely my experience, too. The same issues spiral around. Sometimes, I’m shocked. “What’s this doing here? I thought I dealt with it.” But I realize there’s now a deeper level of healing required. Would you comment on that?

 

SARK: We always want healing to be a ladder or steps. People write books that say “Eight steps to being healthier.” “Three steps to health.” You can climb those steps, but I guarantee you’ll be climbing them again. You don’t get to another level and never go back. Healing isn’t even hierarchical from bottom to top. It’s far more interesting than that.

 

It’s why people are drawn to walk the Labyrinth. You go around and around and reach the center. Then you go around again. It’s a circular path. You go past things you’ve dealt with before and see them on your way. Maybe you become fully engaged with them again. The very circular and spiral nature of the walk is challenging to the linear mind that wants progress.

 

We’re always thinking progress is an advantage. In fact, it can be the exact opposite of what our souls need. Once again, our souls need regression as much as they need progress. I love Thomas Moore for saying that. We’re so indoctrinated that progress is the way.

 

ALISSA: We don’t even want to admit when we regress or that we’re not being productive.

SARK: People lie all the time. Just take television. People continually lie about it. They say they only watch a little bit and mostly public television—or the nature shows and the Discovery Channel. They’re presenting an inner critic compilation of the appropriate programming to watch. Or they go further and say, they never watch. TV’s a waste. There are better things to do with your time. Simultaneously, they judge others who watch too much TV and specifically, the wrong kind of TV. It’s another subterfuge we undertake to hide our actual experience.

 

I remember I was home alone sick one Thanksgiving weekend. I watched reruns of “Thirty-something” or some other show. There was a marathon. I watched 38 episodes in a row. I began living in it. I was so with these people that when they had their Thanksgiving show, that was my Thanksgiving. I confessed what I did to a friend,  and to this day, the friend admits to feeling so safe when I owned up to it, because this person had done similar things and always felt really alone.

 

TV here is just a metaphor for a lot of other things that people don’t tell the truth about. Most of us have similar things. We have too many books we haven’t read. Most of us feel guilty about the books we haven’t read. Most of us have overflowing closets and procrastinate about ever having any order in them. On and on. Why aren’t we just admitting these things, laughing about them and then spending our energy elsewhere. There’s always going to be entropy and disorder and lack of progress. That’s going to be a constant. We can use the energy we’re spending trying to make progress in much more pleasurable pursuits or other creative endeavors. I know that was a tangent, but I had to go on it.

 

ALISSA: It’s an important one. We put ourselves in these rigid molds based on what we think is socially acceptable or the right approach.

 

Encouragement to Do More Things Badly

 

SARK: Please let’s invoke the spirit of my friend Rebecca who died two years ago. She said, “Please tell people to do more things badly.” For instance, meditation works even when you do it badly. And that goes for everything else. Once again, most of us aren’t just procrastinators, but we’re perfectionists, too. We don’t even try new things because we might be any good at them. Guess what? It’s fun to take dance lessons—even if you’re not good. Not everything you try may turn out to be fun, but don’t futurize to stop yourself, because of your perfectionism.

 

ALISSA: I loved when you wrote about taking a class in something you know you’re bad at in one of your books. How that act is freeing.

 

SARK: Even my speed dating experience. I was really bad at the preliminaries of that. I was a wreck. I was overfocused on my appearance and having trouble driving. I was talking to myself. I’m a meticulous person, but when I got there, I filled out all the forms and promptly lost my name tag. I don’t think it was an accident. When I went to report the loss, the person said, “I’m sorry. We can’t replace that.” I thought he was kidding, but he wasn’t. He said if I’d lost it, I couldn’t participate.

 

He told me to talk to the organizer about whether or not he might do something. Fortunately, he had found my name tag on the floor. But he said, “Don’t lose it again or you can’t participate.” My perfectionist was going wild, saying I didn’t do the right thing. It was funny. Then, I found out that I was much better at talking to 10 people for 10 minutes each than I ever knew. I found out that in some ways, I was more comfortable than the people I was talking to. The point is I’d never know if I hadn’t tried.

 

ALISSA: And you’d have all these projections about how it might have been, what might have happened.

 

SARK: Of course, now I’m wondering where the unusual, eccentric men are, and I want to find them. I didn’t say yes to any of those men, which was rather alarming. It’s okay though. It’s given me a new bravery.

 

ALISSA: That’s great. I always think it’s important to put the energy out in the direction of where you want to go. Maybe what you hope for won’t come from there, but from somewhere else entirely. Doing what you did though is  just like saying “yes” to the universe.

 

SARK: The universe sometimes says “maybe.”

 

ALISSA: Or, a relationship comes in weird ways. I met my life partner, Jonah at a time when I wasn’t even thinking about meeting anyone. I was open, but not looking. I was focused on work. I was happy being single. During that time, I was moving and went to look at a house to rent. It was Jonah’s house. He was living in the middle of the desert. This wasn’t the time I thought I’d meet the man I’d marry. But I had been doing the work on myself that prepared me to have a good relationship. I knew what I was looking for in a partner.

 

SARK: I love it.

[Editor’s note: Subsequently, SARK reports in her August 2002 e-letter that even though the speed dating didn’t result in a date, she told a friend she wished a “juicy man” would just show up at her house. Three days later, serendipitously, one did, and they went out.]

 

© Alissa Lukara 2002

 

PART II, a continuation of Alissa Lukara’s interview with SARK, deals with acceptance of what is, surrender, struggle and joy, change, self-care and integrating the lessons challenges bring. You can read Part II here.  

 

Download a pdf worksheet on SARK’s system of Micromovements described in the interview here.

SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) is the author and artist of eleven books, including the bestseller, Succulent Wild Woman. There are over two million SARK books in print. Her latest is Prosperity Pie. SARK is an acclaimed speaker and teacher, and was featured in the PBS series, "Women of Wisdom and Power," as well as a documentary film titled, "The World According to SARK." She is a periodic guest on National Public Radio, and her own "Inspiration Line" has been inspiring people for ten years at 415-546-3742. Her company, Camp SARK produces products to inspire creative living. Camp SARK has also distributed "Creative Tool Kits" to teachers across the country. SARK was born in Minneapolis and her first (and favorite) job was as Wake-Up Fairy in kindergarten. She studied at the Minneapolis Art Institute, University of Tampa and the University of Minnesota before graduating from the School of Communication Arts in radio/TV production. SARK is a recovering procrastinator/perfectionist who practices what she teaches, and lives in a Magic Cottage in San Francisco, California with her "Fur Husband" cat, Jupiter. For more information, go to the Camp SARK website.

Alissa M. Lukara is president and originator of the Life Challenges website. She has also just completed a memoir of her personal healing journey, entitled Riding the Grace. She speaks to groups, drawing on her personal healing experiences and the lessons she learned from them. Mostly, she considers herself a life artist, co-creating with The Great Mystery the various ups, downs, ins and outs of her glorious beloved life. Sometimes, she even reaches that ultimate place where she can let go of all the doing and labeling stuff, and then, she simply is. Contact Alissa at alissal@lifechallenges.org.