Niki Flow
Jazztizz
Niki Flow
Niki Flow (a palindrome of “wolf, I, kin”) is my new pen name. I used to write under the name “Sara Michele O’Sullivan.” O’Sullivan is an ancestral name. Daniel O’Sullivan came to the United States in the late 1800’s. He was the father of my maternal grandmother. ·
My real name is Sara Michele O’Toole. I was named for my grandmother (Sara) and my cousin (Michael). I was supposed to be a boy, my mother explained. My name would have been Michael Mark O’Toole. My mother and family called me Micky. In business I was known as Michele. ·
In 1996 I discovered a text-based RPG and invented by accident the name Tizzrah. (I was going for Tirzah, Ben Hur’s sister but got it backwards). The name Tizz stuck for internet and gamer friends. So, because I love jazz (first) among all genres of music, I am “jazztizz.” ·
I worked for most of my life as a legal and/or executive secretary is high stress jobs. Currently, I co-create as a staff blogger and scribe at ServiceSpace.org. I feel like, at last, I am part of something truly beautiful and world changing. Service Space is founded by Nipun Mehta on the idea of “Giftism.” (See his TedX Talk: “Designing for Generosity.”) ·
I’m a mom/birthmom to six children (3 kids, 2 birth kids and one little angel). I am happily married for the past dozen or more years to my best friend. I’m a musician, artist, writer and world citizen. I believe that life is in two parts — finding your passion, then giving it back to the world. The operative word here is “Give.” ·
“I am planting seeds, nothing more.”