It’s the same SharpSweetBella blog with a different look, feel and focus.

Meet Janet

I’m Janet & I have been blogging since 2003 when I became a new mother. When I first started my LiveJournal in December 2003, I needed a place to express my frustrations at the contradictory advice given to new mothers, maybe even connect with others who felt the same. I had this beautiful miracle baby and suddenly I was thrust into a world that was constantly judging the best efforts of the best moms, instilling in us a distrust of our own instincts and intuition. I wrote about my life, my depression, my legal career, and my new polyamorous life.

Those words were eventually outed by a shame machine that churned up authenticity to punish people into conformity. And while that time in my life hurt more than I could describe, I am still committed to showing up with vulnerability, compassion, and resilience. I show up to draw attention to the forces of judgment and control that keep us from experiencing our highest, most loving selves.

I am a former attorney, a sex-positive professional, a Rocky Mountain mystic, and a fierce lover of humanity. I grew up on Star Trek and it heavily influences the kind of world I want to create. I have a spiritual calling that motivates me to illuminate the interconnectedness of our world. I am an empty nester living her best polyamorous life, leading with authenticity, providing that a more heart-centered world is possible.

I share my story to make it easier to access your own. I show my vulnerabilities to give you the strength to understand your own. I write about my love so you don’t feel alone in yours. I shine my light to make it safe to shine yours. We are all connected 💖

The Professional Credentials 

I am an experienced public policy professional, relationship educator, trained mediator, and former disability attorney.  An honors graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a BA in Sociology and a graduate of the University of Denver College of Law, I have focused my career on advocacy, relationship building, and conflict resolution. I have spent time both in the public sector and private sector as an advocate, lobbyist, advisor, and general do-gooder.

I pride myself on my empathy, understanding, and ability to bridge the gaps between different populations and experiences to create conscious, lasting change in people’s lives. I have served on various boards throughout my career including most recently those that focus on fundraising for diverse, sex-positive causes as well as addressing food justice locally. Before opening Rose Connections, I specialized in navigating legal and charitable services on behalf of Colorado’s most vulnerable, including those who have lost housing, are applying for disability benefits, or are survivors of abuse.

Get to know me through my writing

The essentials (last updated 10/2022)

In the beginning, there was Bella

• A Note on Empathy – “We listen, we empathize, we allow them the safety to share of themselves fully…and sharing is quite sexy.”
• A Loose Woman Speaks – “Strike at the soul and be consumed within these flames.”
• The Real Pueblo Pride – “The beauty of this is these are all lessons I learned the hard way while growing up in Pueblo, in developing my sexuality, in discovering my calling.“

BDSM, Polyamory, and sex positivity

• Hiding in Plain Sight – “It’s loathsome how many times we are pressured into these situations.  Our need to serve is being used to disguise a “consent by duress” for more than we can handle.  We are told to trust our dominant, that they know what is good for us…only to have them either neglect or abuse us at their whim.  I have more of these examples than I care to describe in a public forum.”
• A Poly Disclaimer – “In my marriage, it’s been about freedom to be loved in a committed relationship for who we are and where we are in that given moment.   By being poly, it’s given Husband the freedom to be himself…to not have to meet 100% of my needs 100% of the time.“

Pop Culture & Social Media

• 15 Ways Twitter made me a better person – Celebrating 2500 followers on Twitter.
• Wonder Woman: My First Feminist Icon – Celebrating the geeky me

Trauma Informed Care

• What is Trauma Informed Social Change – where I make the case for the work I am currently doing.
• Advice from a Do-Gooder – where I argue that resilience requires meaningful systemic change.

Spirituality, Tarot & our Highest Selves.

• My Spiritual Calling from 1990 – 2020 – The origin story of my calling including thoughts on what I’m going to do next.
• Messages of Divine Love – Weekly tarot/oracle advice for the collective. Focusing on messages from our guides, mother earth, our ancestors, future selves, and Mother Mary.
• The LightWashing of Reality – How QAnon weaponized spiritual white women to undermine progress.

Get in Touch

I offer a variety of services from heart-centered leadership coaching to group consent training, from nonprofit trauma-informed care consulting to individual tarot readings.

I also have a Patreon page that supports the work I do and the content I’m creating. In addition to the classes I teach, I am writing a queertastic historical fantasy series about past lives and the fight to overcome patriarchy. Stay up to date on the book and get previews of each week’s reading here: patreon.com/RoseGoldHeart

If you feel the call to work with me, you can get in touch at janet@rose-connections.com or reach out to me over social media: @SharpSweetBella on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook & TikTok).