The Mixed Bloom Room: Where Multiracial Identity Heals & Thrives
UPDATE: THE NEXT COURSE STARTS OCTOBER 17, 2022
I’ve never met a Mixed-race person whose identity journey was smooth, easy, or without complications. Many of us muddle through, making whatever sense we can of the ways our ancestry, appearance, cultural influences, and leanings intersect with our families, environments, and society at large.
Sarah Lotus Garrett knows what it means to grow up facing these complexities. Fortunately, her experiences inspired her to help others navigate their Mixed journeys and, in the process, inform her own. She became a Certified Life and Goal Fulfillment Coach and created The Mixed Bloom Room, a space that centers the beautifully unique and complex experiences of Mixed people.
Her coaching helps foster a higher level of Mixed-identity Confidence by working with Mixed adults and Monoracial parents of Mixed children.
Sarah is also a fellow Mixed Auntie working for positive change. I know how popular her work is, and what a powerful resource she brings to the Mixed community. Check out our recent convo:
TaRessa: Sarah, what is your racial background and how does it inspire your work?
Sarah: I’m mixed Black (African American) and white (northern European) and I identify as Mixed Black. Being Mixed comes with its own set of complexities and nuance.
As a Mixed woman in an interracial marriage with Mixed kids, Mixedness is very much a part some of the most important aspects of my life. It seems only fitting that it would become the focus of my work.
TaRessa: How do you describe YOUR identity journey?
Sarah: I’d describe it as nuanced and complex, beautiful, and blessed. I grew up with my white mother, a Brown girl surrounded by whiteness, and without my Black family around me. That meant that my racial identity journey was pretty much solo in my younger years.
It’s only recently, in the last ten years, that I have intentionally sought out Mixed community and collaborations and really delved into my own Mixed journey. I formed the Mixed Bloom Room in 2019, and it’s been incredible doing this work with other Mixed adults. It seems that there is always more healing to be done.
“This course is life-changing and has absolutely changed my outlook on my Mixedness … it’s been an essential step in getting comfortable and confident with who I am. I’d do it again and recommend it to any Mixed adult.” – N.S.
TaRessa: Why did you decide to do this specific work?
Sarah: I saw a great need for it. I’ve done a lot of explorations and growth over the years in this regard and that’s what inspired me to work with Mixed people and their families.
There are so many Mixed people who, essentially, have been left to figure it out alone. I wanted to change that. I want to give Mixed people a soft and safe place to land as they figure themselves out and grow.
TaRessa: How does the Mixed Bloom Room provide that place?
Sarah: The Bloom Room is a safe, self-curated space that centers Mixedness. Each participant creates their own version of the space based on their self-wisdom. It’s an ever-evolving place that continues to grow and flourish along with the individual.
I offer individual and group coaching to assist Mixed people and their families in healing and preventing some of the pains of being Mixed, to recognize and accept the privileges that can come with Mixedness, and to move through the world with more Mixed-identity confidence and a deeper level of activated community consciousness.
“Sarah made challenging topics and conversations accessible with room for grace and accountability.” – L.P.P.
TaRessa; How has this work impacted your sense of identity?
With each session of the Mixed Adults course, I learn more about my own Mixed self. I heal something that was still tender. I find another piece to the beautiful puzzle that is me. I understand myself more fully and so I love myself more fully.
Over time I’ve come to fully embrace the complexities that make up a Mixed-race identity and that gives me more peace and more ease, in my body, in my everyday life and in my plans moving forward. I feel really blessed to have found such a clear path for my calling.
‘The Mixed Bloom Room has been life-changing and powerful for my friendships, my relationships, for my identity, and for me as a human!” – E.M.
The Top 5 Reasons for Mixed Folks to Bloom
To heal old wounds surrounding their upbringing so that they can move through life with more grace, intentionality, and agency.
To truly understand what it means to have Mixed privileges and find and/or create their own path towards utilizing those privileges within their communities.
To feel more at ease in their Mixed identity, including more comfort being in their own body on the daily.
To heal and know and love themselves more deeply.
To experience the great power and healing in being seen and heard, unapologetically, in community. Most of my clients realize this in hindsight—after sharing time in a group with other Mixed people. The incredible healing that happens when we are seen and heard in community is invaluable.