Once Upon a Star

Sarah Ingmanson

Description

After her father died suddenly during her junior year in high school, Sarah Ingmanson started to experience a string of events too uncanny to attribute to frivolous luck. This became her entry point into spiritual exploration along with its share of heart-breaking and heart-lifting earthly adventures.
Sarah always knew she was adopted, but most of what she learned about her birth parents came after the fact of her childhood. In this way, she is able to examine nature vs. nurture in a unique way.
When Sarah requested her birth papers at age 35, she was primarily interested in learning her heritage. Did her freckles mean she was Irish? Why was there so much red in her hair when she went blonde that year?
What she received answered those questions and more, including her birth name, Star. Her birth papers created a trail that would allow her to piece together her genealogy a decade later.
Taking the concept that all stars are born out of chaos, Sarah examines her life from a star perspective and encourages the reader to as well. At these intersections of desire and destiny, Once Upon a Star takes us from fairy tale beginnings to our personal earthly legends.

Sujets

• Personal Memoirs
• Biography
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Balboa Press
• Date de parution: 21 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798765241387
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

ONCE UPON A STAR
 
 
A MEMOIR AT THE INTERSECTION OF DESIRE & DESTINY
 
 
 
 
 
SARAH INGMANSON
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2023 Sarah Ingmanson.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
Balboa Press
A Division of Hay House
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.balboapress.com
844-682-1282
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
ISBN: 979-8-7652-4137-0 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-7652-4139-4 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-7652-4138-7 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023907525
 
Balboa Press rev. date:  05/26/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dedicated to my daughter, Desiree Star, and my birth mother — the one who named me Star.
The stories in this book reflect the author’s recollection of events. Some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the privacy of those depicted. Dialogue has been re-created from me mory.
CONTENTS
Introduction
 
Chapter 1       R.I.P.
Chapter 2       When Purposes Collide
Chapter 3       Under The Mask Of Control
Chapter 4       Aim For Florida, Land in Fukuoka
Chapter 5       Red, Red Wine
Chapter 6       Mrs. Smith
Chapter 7       The Little Hussy
Chapter 8       When Your Dad Looks at You Differently
Chapter 9       One-Eyed Bunny
Chapter 10     Late Bloomer
Chapter 11     My First Fiancé
Chapter 12     Never Say Never
Chapter 13     Rubella
Chapter 14     My First Husband
Chapter 15     Tadaima… Japan
Chapter 16     Sayonara Desire
Chapter 17     The Pilgrimage Back to Japan
Chapter 18     Boys II Men
Chapter 19     Aim for Goldman, Land at Morgan Stanley
Chapter 20     The Lost Decade(s)
Chapter 21     Graduation Night
Chapter 22     Aim for Union Square, Land in Times Square
Chapter 23     Fear Of Flying
Chapter 24     Baby Thoughts
Chapter 25     Waking Up To A New Reality
Chapter 26     Mind-Body Disconnect
Chapter 27     Marriage Disconnect
Chapter 28     Blonde Ambition
Chapter 29     Meeting Manny
Chapter 30     Flying Southwest
Chapter 31     Trauma & Betrayal
Chapter 32     Love Triangle
Chapter 33     North Americans
Chapter 34     Unlearning Busy as a Virtue
Chapter 35     Disappointment in Sacramento
Chapter 36     Solar Plexus
Chapter 37     What Happens in Columbus...
Chapter 38     Pro for a Day
Chapter 39     Mis-Conception
Chapter 40     Conception
Chapter 41     North Americans, Take 3
Chapter 42     My Second Was-Band
Chapter 43     The Angel Inside
Chapter 44     Meeting My Divorce Attorney
Chapter 45     The Escape Chute
Chapter 46     Thanksgiving
Chapter 47     Meatloaf Delivery
Chapter 48     Meeting Michael
Chapter 49     Uncovering Stella
Chapter 50     The Sea Is Calling
Chapter 51     Going Dark
Chapter 52     Tell Me About Competing…
Chapter 53     Okaerinasai to Japan & Competing
Chapter 54     Ode To Suffocation
Chapter 55     The Geisha Connection
Chapter 56     We Don’t Talk About…
Chapter 57     On This Side Of Eternity
Chapter 58     Mothers and Daughters… and Granddaughters
Chapter 59     A Tale of Two Adoptees
Chapter 60     A Tale of Two Mothers
Chapter 61     How I Met My Birth Mother
Chapter 62     My Pandemic Story
Chapter 63     How I Met My Birth Father
Chapter 64     March to Glide
Chapter 65     Dear Desiree
Chapter 66     The Unlikely Mother
Chapter 67     Soul Curriculum
Chapter 68     Dream Big. Desire More.
INTRODUCTION
“We need chaos in our soul to give birth t o a dancing star.” ~Frederick Niez cher
All stars are born out of chaos. A supernova is a special type of star created through an explosion. Whether the star survives depends on the stellar core of the entity. In other words, it’s not a given. It’s a chosen.
The human experience closely resembles this. A stellar explosion of sorts appears to create chaos and destruction in our lives. At these junctures, we can deconstruct to construct; to not just survive, but to figure out a way to thrive as a deeply personal part of our soul’s evolution. Destiny beckons us, but free will responds. That free will determines whether we crumble or shine, but our souls are always rooting for the latter...herein, our Once Upon a Star story plot moves from a fairy tale to our personal earthly legend.
A stellar explosion creates the brightest stars. Now, that term, explosion, should be personalized to your life — death of a loved one, destruction of a marriage, tragedy, betrayal, loss, illness, disappointment, rejection, acts of aggression — or, any way, life detonates in an unexpected and life-altering way right in front of your eyes.
Our earthly selves feel wronged when things don’t go our way, but, when life is viewed from a star perspective, everything is for us — even the bad stuff — maybe especially the bad stuff. Don’t we tend to grow the most when we have no choice but to? When life forces our hand to go deep, we find the depth of light within. And, inevitably, when we are open to luminosity, luminosity finds us.
To survive these explosions in a supernova sense, we must go beyond the experience while still having a pulse. We can’t be a supernova lying around lamenting about what happened to us. We must, in some way, become more luminous from the event and living life differently because of the event. In other words, we must evolve. Then, the star within us is born... and can be rebirthed... over and over again.
STAR SAYS: When we choose to see everything as a source of intended luminosity, we can shift any circumstance into the one we need for our beautiful stellar self to ev olve.
As long as we condition ourselves to be undeterred by the explosions in our lives, we can reach the luminous frontier and our personal luminosity. With experience and observation of others, we start to see the result is guaranteed to be stellar. The question is how do we transform the explosions in our lives from the level of terrifying, tragic, traumatic, and debilitating into something freeing and luminous?
I understand that in the wake of one of these stellar explosions, surviving the next day, the next week, the next trigger when you are literally or figuratively gasping for air can feel Herculean at best. Until we fully heal, we tend to self-doubt and succumb. We question our ability to survive, to withstand the pain, and to feel normal and safe again. But, we need to — to not only survive, but to feel and contend with our emotional pain. Glossing over, pushing down, or dismissing our pain simply postpones, prolongs, and exacerbates the healing process.
Through my story, maybe you see glimpses of your own. Places where life has handed you a set of cards that has thrown you off course. Or places where you’re dimming yourself down deliberately or unconsciously. Once you recognize this, you can step back into your co-creative majesty. A place where karma means less about revenge and more about response — a response to our thoughts, actions, deeds, and planned soul curriculum.
As part of our soul curriculum, I believe we pick out our parents — in my case, two sets. Not because they’re necessarily perfect in earthly terms, but because they’re perfect in our soul trajectories. My birth parents gifted me with a big smile, a hearty laugh, sturdy legs, and an aptitude toward writing and foreign languages; while my adoptive parents taught me about life through their eyes — their values, religious beliefs, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil...the Celtics vs. the Lakers, death, and figure skating. Especially figure skating. In hindsight, figure skating was the element of nurture that revealed my nature first.
Most of what I learned about my birth parents came after the fact of my childhood. As the forces of nature emerged, you could say I came to know my name before learning my name.
On July 24, 1975, you were born at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston after a full-term pregnancy at 38 weeks and an easy delivery, according to your birth mother. She named you Star…
When I requested my birth papers at age 35, I was primarily interested in learning my heritage. Did my freckles mean I was Irish? Why was there so much red in my ha