I could not embody my soul or birth this book without the support of so many incredible people. Words can’t convey the depth of my gratitude, but I hope you can feel my heart beating through them.
My extraordinary, supportive, and truly loving family. Dad: For your open-hearted acceptance and unwavering support of me no matter what. Mom: For your deep listening, ongoing nurturance, encouragement of my creativity, and wisdom. Elizabeth: For your compassionate heart, exceptional gifts, and boundless care for the earth and humanity. Caroline: For your fierce love, soulful loyalty, powerful intuition, and inspiring creation and appreciation of beauty. Keat: For your generous heart, spectacular humor, surgery support, and for making my sister so happy and my amazing niece and nephew. Georgia: For your exquisite heart, magic, soulful sensitivity, and true beauty. Weston: For your tender heart, snuggles, mischievous ways, and soulful strength. (And Kimdog and Waverly!) Thank you all for having my back; accepting me as I am; not letting me take myself to seriously, but seriously enough; teaching me to be a better human; and for having the best senses of humor and feeding me such delicious food my whole life. I love you all so very, very much.
Mark: My partner and soul’s champion. Thank you for your multidimensional support, patience, protection, brilliance, nourishing meals, and endless grocery store runs. You were the first to read this book, feel Sarah’s truth, and receive it in your heart, all of which gave me the courage to share it with others. No one will ever know how intense this process was except for you who have valiantly kept watch during my deep dives, stayed by my side in the roughest waters, and danced joyfully with me each time I made it back to the surface clutching another piece of myself. Our souls share an ancient love and a noble truth that no storm can ever destroy. I love you.
Gail and Henry: Your beautiful condo over the marsh and home in Atlanta, Hana (and Patra), Meow Meow, Fierce, the POS, Henry’s meals, and Gail’s shamanic work served me in more ways than there are words. Thank you so much for your incredible support and generosity and for providing a safe space for my soulbody to write and heal . . . and for allowing me to come back even after that leaky pipe under the sink. I love you both.
Tara and Judah: How do I thank you both for everything you have given me over these years? Tara, your grounding, healing presence during the surgery; your astonishing gifts, profound insight, and miraculous Soul Fire Retreat support; our many hilarious trips together and nourishing three hour phone calls—my gratitude for our friendship is immense and ongoing. Judah, your unfailing down-to-earth-yet-coming-from-the–center-of-the-universe wisdom, your more than generous help with the edits, your gentle guidance during my (many) freak outs, and all the soothing nature videos and supportive texts. I feel beyond grateful that you both are in my life (again) and that this planet gets to experience your Souls’ many gifts. I love you two.
Jessica: Where did you come from, woman? Wait, I know. And I’m so grateful you are with us all again sharing your courageous, enormous heart, staggering organic gifts, and Soul’s Magic. There are so many ways you have generously supported me over these years: scooping me up off the ground at the Soul Fire Retreat, feeding me bacon, offering warrioress wisdom and protection (including kicking major demon ass), helping me (finally) match the book’s introduction with my soul’s truth, building my website, and having an astonishingly accurate spiritual bullshit radar. This planet is lucky to have you, and I am honored to call you, Sean, and the pups (and the noble Josie), true soul friends. I love you, woman.
Mercedes: For your deep and spacious holding, insightful texts, ready sense of humor, TV show suggestions, mac ’n’ cheese nods, and remarkable gifts of body and being healing. I’m blessed to have you as a friend who has been through two of these book births.
Anne: For your soul-sister support and ancient creative brilliance; afternoon teas; flower essences; and heart-opening, hands-clapping gifts for the Red Tent and my Red soulbody. It’s a Gift to know you and to watch with awe as your gifts emerge more and more, inspiring this entire world with your spectacular Gold-Green Beauty.
Shannon and Eric: For the hilarious t-shirt ideas, the crazy wisdom, and for driving across the entire country and showing up right when I needed you the most. Thank you for your ongoing soulbody support, inspiring love partnership, and for bravely and continuously doing the Real Work for Her and Him, this planet, and all of us.
Briana R.: My Sacred Patron and soul sister. I will never forget the first time I looked into your bright blue eyes in Montana and felt the depth, love, and power of your Soul. Woman, your multifaceted support has more than helped make this book, my mission, and my soul’s embodiment happen. You have given me many gifts, including the much-needed gifts of security, nourishment, and wise council, but most of all you have given me the sacred reminder that I am worthy of being supported during this process, as all souls are who dare to share their truth and unique gifts. My gratitude comes from all corners and curves of this Universe, as does my love.
Kristine Backes: For the mountainous presence you are in my life and on this planet, for your soul support, monthly generosity, and your authentic healing gifts.
Ana Strauss: For your courageous, cancer-kicking, glittery, compassionate awesomeness; the text memes that made me laugh out loud during the hardest book contractions; and for my beautiful hair. You are an inspiration, and I can’t wait till one of us owns a farm or we take that world tour of weirdly cute animals.
Soul Fire Retreat Women: Thank you all for so bravely and exquisitely showing up in this world and for daring to Know, Embrace, and Embody your Soul. Each one of you inspires me and held the circle for me during this birthing process. I love you all.
Gregory Perron: For your divinely timed emails filled with inspiring poetry, music videos, and fiery-hearted support. I’m honored to know you and call you a soul brother.
Paul Schmidt: For being such a wonderful source of support and encouragement for my spiritual explorations and expressions since I was a child, and for your excellent advice for this book.
Paulo: Thank you for being an awesome soul brother and neighbor and for delivering the line I most needed to hear that one rough day: “The only way to get this wrong is to not do it at all.”
Jeff Kripal: For welcoming my Redness in graduate school and up to this very day. Your kindness and support of us mutants and mystics is unfailing and your brilliant work in the world is an ongoing inspiration. Julie Kripal: For your care, delicious meals, and for sharing your powerful healing gifts with me.
Marion Woodman: For doing the work before any of us knew there was soul work to be done and for providing me with the most necessary shakedown of my life. Your fierce commitment to our soulbody’s wisdom and voice has forever changed humanity.
Susanne Bersbach: My beloved therapist who is now dancing and laughing in the other realms. Thank you for being there after Marion. For seeing me, holding me, modeling the fiercely compassionate feminine, and supporting my soulbody in more ways than I can name. You are dearly missed.
Robert Rabbin: For your generous help so many years ago and for reminding me of the holy necessity of speaking and writing truthfully. You are dearly missed, but your wise and loving presence on this planet is everlasting.
George Kavassilas: Thank you for bravely speaking your truth, sharing your extraordinary experiences, championing the Soul’s Reality, and inspiring me to do so as well.
Peter Levine and Irene Lyon: I didn’t explore your work until after my soul retrievals, but I’m grateful for your revolutionary insights and profound contributions regarding trauma and the body.
Lisa Braun Dubbels: For being my unflinching, real deal, hilarious, ridiculously generous, supremely supportive publicist/friend for a decade now . . . and for the bunny pics. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Haven, Tami, Leslie, Christine, Lindsey, and the amazing team at Sounds True: I cannot imagine any other editor or publisher for this book. Thank you for taking a risk and helping me share my soul’s truth with the world. Thank you for not only sounding true, but for Being True.
Endorsers: Judah, Jacob, Jonas, Mirabai, Russ, Lissa, and Lisa: Thank you for your important and meaningful work in the world and for taking the time and heart to support mine. It’s an honor sharing this planet with you.
The Center for Endometriosis Care, Debbie, and Dr. Sinervo: For your angelic kindness, heart, generosity, and the healing work you provided for me and so many female soulbodies.
Sacred Donors, I am grateful to all of you who have donated to me over the years so I could birth this wild red soul baby: Mom and Dad, Caroline and Keat, Briana, Jessica, Tara and Judah, Kristine Backes, Philip Corkill, Paola Borgia, Amy Pfaelzer, Tammy Greene, Nadya Vila, Morgan McDonald, Regina Gelfo, Kimberly Smythe, Brittany Nohra, Bethany Butzer, Elizabeth Kupferman, Michael Slack, Margaret Smith, Jennifer Israel, Juliet Oberding, Rebecca Britton, Preeta Banerjee, Maha Naim, Gena Odland, John Lingard, Elizabeth Ellis, Juliet LeBlanc, Alana Grainger, Anida Wehi, Lejla Marinko, Diana Rae (Rae), Jaqueline Thomas, Addy Heckert, Jakub Edward Checinski, Marina Heinrich, Jessica Lang, Judith Kunkle, Robert Rabbin, Kim Albano de Barros, Vanessa Vazquez, Ann Hughes Ryan, Elizabeth Starr.
My past parents, community, adversaries and allies, personal trainers, relationships, Allison, Rachel, Simmin, Oliver, my dogs Hermes and Lala, my parrot Anaya, Fierce (the five-pound Chihuahua of Simmons Pointe), the Houston neighborhood of Montrose and its Oak trees, the Holy City of Charleston, The Lowcountry, the eagles, wood storks, dolphins, coyotes, pluff mud, Angel Oak tree, Sullivan’s Island beach, the Atlantic Ocean, and Papa Sun and Mama Earth.
You: Many times during this multi-lifetime process I didn’t think I would make it, but then I would feel you out there—courageously living your own Soul’s journey—and it helped me keep going. Thank you for Being Yourself and for doing your Wild Thang with me.
The Lineage: [fist pump]
True Love: BOOM!!!