The Deets

The Place: Whole Foods Cafe in Northwest Austin

The Hour: 2:00pm

The Cup: Steaz for Sara and iced hibiscus mint tea for me.

Background: Anthony Baldwin is a friend from Houston and I remembered him telling me about his wonderful pal Sara who had moved to Austin. When we chatted the other day I asked about her and whether he thought she’d be interested in getting together. He made the intro via email and voila!

I arrived early so I decided to go in and grab us a spot. The store was a hive of activity and the cafe area particularly was abuzz. As I sat and waited for Sara to get there I worried I may not recognize her. Suddenly, this calm and confident woman walked through the door and I realized my worry was unnecessary. She saw me and I waved her over. Some folks shake hands when they meet someone, Sara is a hugger. So lucky me, I got a Sara hug and I knew our meeting and friendship was off to a lovely start.

My first question to her (and most everyone) is “what is the most memorable thing about you?”. Sara’s answer: “My hugs.” She explained that she gives such excellent hugs that people remember it about her and often request this special gift. She went on to tell me that she can usually get a sense from someone if they are just up for a quick hug or if they want a longer one and she tells me if someone wants a full hug, she is always open to that heart connection.

Her statement causes all sorts of mixed emotion for me. Having grown up in North Dakota, hugging wasn’t the norm.  I grew up in a loving household but unless I was crying there wasn’t much need for a hug. You didn’t hug your brother, you didn’t hug your friends, and you certainly didn’t go around hugging strangers.

On the other hand, I’ve become much more “touchy” as I have gotten older and particularly when I moved to the South where folks – mostly females, I’ve observed – exchange hugs as freely as “Bless your heart”s.  But even so, generally this gesture of love is reserved for friends and not a typical greeting for someone you just met.  (If alcohol is involved the above rules obviously do not apply as I have been hugged by countless strangers in ladies rooms all across this great nation. This variety often leaves me with tear-stained shoulders repeating the words, “You’re right, you deserve way better than that!  No, don’t call him now.”). But I digress.

Sara’s openness with a loving hug provided a glimpse of how open she is in general and made me question why we don’t hug each other more.  Especially strangers.  It reminded me of MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.  If you haven’t seen it, have a look now. Free Hugs

That video makes me well up every, single time I watch it.  And I’ve seen it lots of times!  I also cry when I watch the flash mob Oprah Winfrey got on her final season from the Black Eyed Peas and her loving fans.  Here is a link.

My husband tells me it’s the power of tribe emotion that causes me to feel so touched.  It’s about being a part of something and sharing it with everyone around you.  Probably why religion is so powerful for some. If I feel so moved watching it on You Tube, I can’t imagine how it felt to be there.  Adding “Be a part of a flash mob” to my life to-do list now.

This openness with love and affection thing wasn’t the only thing I learned from Sara.  In fact, my blog posts would be short books if I put every lesson I learn in them.  I stick to a few that have significance for me hoping they resonate with you as well.

Sara’s greatest joy in life is her son. Her exact answer when asked what her greatest joy is, was “My son. Without a doubt, my son!” As she tells me about him, she does so in a way much different than I’ve ever heard a parent talk about their child.  Sara’s description of this magical joy begins as soon as she is pregnant and carries on all the way to today.  She tells me she knows people who talk about the terrible two’s and the teenage years. Sara says they didn’t have any of that. Typically you hear parenthood described more in terms of highs and lows. Give and take if you will – but not Sara.  She loves her boy beyond words and I can feel it pouring off of her as she talks proudly of him.

I get the sense that it isn’t so much that her son is some sort of perfect child who never talked back or caused frustration.  Instead, how Sara feels about him is a reflection of Sara herself.  She is so focused on joy that she finds it everywhere. Now that is pretty cool.

“Follow the energy.” This phrase or some derivative of it was used at least four times in the hour and a half Sara and I chatted.  One time it was when I asked her how she ended up in the field she is now in.  Sara describes her profession as Spiritual Intuitive Coaching and she came upon it from doing some internet marketing which led to working for a client who was in this spiritual-type profession.  Sara was listening to her talks as a part of the work she was doing and felt drawn by the energy of it.  This eventually led Sara to hosting her own show on Blog Talk Radio called Awakening in Austin.

Sara is trained and experienced in various types of coaching/spiritual/energy work including Reiki, Law of Attraction coaching, EFT, NLP and life coaching. Her newest training and the program she is really excited about and feeling the energy draw her to is called Access Consciousness.  We didn’t get into great detail but it did sound intriguing and she is obviously a believer.  One of the “mantras” of this practice is “All of life comes to me with ease and joy and glory.

I believe in the power of suggestion and can see how repeating and owning this statement could have an impact. Sara also shared that part of the program is about asking questions.  It doesn’t matter that you don’t have the answer.  If you will simply ask the question, the Universe will offer up an answer.I am someone who is in relentless pursuit of the answer.  I ask tons of questions but never without the expectation that I will figure out the answer.  I knew as soon as she explained it, how true and powerful this idea was.

There are certain ways of framing the question that are part of her training, but one great question she shared with me was “How does it get any better than this?”  Appropriate to ask when all is well and also relevant to ask when things are crappy.  And don’t worry about the answer.  Just be brave enough to ask the question and open yourself up to the answer revealing itself.

And while you’re being open, go out and hug a stranger.