Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Norris.
Hi Sarah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey of growing has definitely not been linear… rather often up down, sideways, slantways.. and any which way you can think of.. haha!.. and typically fueled by curiosity, creativity, and a big ole heart. 
I guess you could say that I got started, like most things in my life, through a sudden and passionate BURST of inspiration to try something new! In this case, it was taking piano lessons my freshman year of college at Hollins University. I fell hard for piano.. passionately, expressively… I may not have had the best technical skills like my peers who’d been playing since a very young age, but it was as if my body and mind knew EXACTLY what to do, and it was there that I discovered this beautifully expressive new channel, where the depths of myself could be accessed, explored, and shared with the world.. it was liberating! 🙂
This spark of inspiration and new passion to help others discover their own therapeutic expressive channels began my lovely journey to study Music and Music Therapy for seven years in my undergrad studies. Being that I had A LOT of personal passions and interests (hello ADHD.. Haha!)… I then went on to complete a Master’s Degree in Therapeutic Recreation at the University of North Texas, where I learned to incorporate a wide variety of interests into a therapeutic practice! From there, I let my passions guide me into becoming a Contract Community-Based Recreation Therapist, working with people with disabilities on a Medicaid Waiver program called CLASS. It’s an AWESOME program, setup to help people become more independent in their communities through services like Recreation Therapy, Aquatic Therapy, Music Therapy, and Massage Therapy!
I am so incredibly grateful to have worked with several companies and fellow amazing therapists along my journey, guiding me, shaping me, and inspiring the passionate future vision I would one day have to start my own small seedling of a company. My vision of offering a beautiful community-centered therapeutic experience, where people (including clients AND therapists!) are offered a Space to Flourish, blossomed in January of 2018 and is called FRESH BLOOM! We have grown from 1 lone therapist (myself! to now eight therapists, and while the journey has definitely had its gentle (and not so gentle!) curves & swerves, I can wholeheartedly say that I feel humbled, grateful, and delighted to be celebrating four years this January! Building a community of Bloomies, where people can bloom into their passions and purpose with JOY is an absolute dream come true! 🙂
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The curves and swerves are definitely real… I would have to say that my biggest personal curve & swerve came right around the start of the pandemic in October 2019… I had been training for a trail running 25K race in the Palo Duro Canyon and had to drop out just weeks before the race… experiencing excruciating pain all over my body… As my doctors and sports medicine specialists tried to figure out the origins of the pain, they began MRI-ing my body from tip to toe and it was discovered that I have an unidentifiable brain lesion. It’s still a bit of a medical mystery and not able to be classified or diagnosed, asymptotic, and thankfully just being watched now for any changes. All this to say… it certainly caused me to take PAUSE… a long, beautiful and deeply intricate look within .. and to take a timid first step on a different kind of life path than the faster lane I had been used to.. one of healing.. 🙂
At first, I was terrified of the lesion… in the process of trying to diagnose what it was, I was tested every way imagined and carried myself back and forth from neuro-oncologist to neurosurgeon… even planning a potential biopsy, surgery, and cancer treatment for the Fall of 2020… thankfully there were no changes, so we decided to wait and see.. But I’ll admit… it was a lot to handle physically, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually..
I knew, with the most kind and loving support of my dearest friends, families, and even Bloomies working with me at FRESH BLOOM, that as scary as it seemed, it was time to venture onto a new kind of SLOW lane path.. and explore for a bit to see what I might find… I dove into everything! :p Sports Rehab Personal training, acupuncture, mindful eating practice, daily meditation practice, working with a life-changing spiritual guru & counselor, yoga trapeze, gardening, abstract painting, photography, cello lessons, exploring JOY, and LOTS of playtime with my puppy, Gladys!!
I was also HUMBLED by the incredible beauty and strength I found in the love of others.. the warm and loving embrace of a community hug… there of course were dark times, curled up in bed and feeling sad about a potential fate I didn’t yet know… crying randomly.. crying for beauty… crying for hope… crying for deep-felt peace and a newfound spiritual connection with the universe… ok there was A LOT of crying come to think of it.. haha! Yet, at the same time, there was so much peace and healing to be found in this new space… and some beautiful gems of wisdom that I try to carry with me now. 🙂
LIVE AUTHENTICALLY!
LOVE AUTHENTICALLY!
LIVE EACH DAY AS A CELEBRATION OF YOU!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The name of my company is FRESH BLOOM! At FRESH BLOOM, our primary aim is to offer a space for people to be planted, build nourishing environments, grow their strengths and resources, and bloom into their purpose with passion! We believe that every human being is born whole, creative, and personally resourceful. Fresh Bloom offers a space for clients to boldly dream & design their best future selves, with our mission being to provide innovative healthcare and educational services that create and support this level of dreaming, designing, and personal thriving!
We offer Recreation Therapy, Aquatic Therapy, Functional Fitness, Music Therapy, and Massage Therapy! What sets us apart from others is this beautiful and inclusive space of community… for both our therapists and our clients to learn and grow! I’m really proud of this… Fresh Bloom wouldn’t be where it is today without our incredible therapists and clients bringing all their passions, talents, and creative ideas to the therapeutic table! We also just launched our very first website… two years in the making! Haha! Come check us out!! https://myfreshbloom.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is living every day with JOY, PURPOSE, and PASSION… at the end of the day, I believe that LOVE truly is ALL YOU NEED! I strive for this every day and hope to create a ripple effect from myself out into my beloved community! 🙂
Contact Info:
- Email: Info@freshbloom.net
- Website: https://myfreshbloom.
com/ - Instagram: @fresh_bloom_and_
flourish - Facebook: @
freshbloomandflourish
Deborah Wimbish
January 26, 2022 at 10:13 am
Awesomeness!!! Wonderful interview and so heartfelt just like Sarah, Authentic and Passionate! We are both from Corpus Christi and I’ve known her Mama forever but really knew her until FACEBOOK IG and then her Beautiful Daughter, Sarah, an inspiration to many of Us!! She is Joy, Sunshine and Love and I’m Spite of some of the dark moments she shared, those are what make her shine her Light even more!! She’s lit from within!! I’m Blessed with her friendship of which is fairly knew but we share a passion for Our Puppers, Music and Art!!
Deborah Wimbish
January 26, 2022 at 10:14 am
Oops, for the type o’s!!