Seeking the spark

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Hello friend,

The past week proved to be quite eventful as I decided to go on an impromptu solo trip on my birthday.

Here are a few things that happened that I’d remember for a long time:

• went on a long drive of 80 km at 2 am
• got chased by a dog at 3 am on an empty road, I think he liked my scooter 😀
• narrowly escaped police who searched my bus on the way back for alcohol. I had a bottle in my bag and I did not know it was illegal to carry. Just when I began opening my bag for him to check, he stopped me and moved on. Maybe he saw my face and found it too innocent of sneaking in alcohol. 😀

But, the highlight of the trip was when I met 3 cool people at a karaoke party- a painter, a singer, and a musician:

• Rishi, quit his job last year to pursue painting. Completely self-taught. And the way his eyes lit up when we discussed Pollock, Baroque, and Andy Warhol! Beautiful! Check out some of his work on his Instagram profile!
• Navya has the most melodious voice I have heard live in recent times. She turned up to the Karaoke night despite the heavy rains just because she wanted to sing. Inspiring! Listen to her amazing voice in the “Covers” highlight stories of her profile!
• Ivan floored me with his simplicity and politeness as he took the initiative to introduce himself while I was feeling a bit awkward amidst strangers. He also has an enthralling voice that can give you legit goosebumps. He killed it with his rendition of “Gulaabi Aankhein Jo Teri Dekhi!” and I almost believed that he knew Hindi. He doesn’t! Incredible! Check out some of his work on his profile here!

The common thing among all these people was that they had a spark in their eyes I cannot forget.

I love the spark in someone’s eyes when they talk about something they are passionate about.

It is almost as if they become a child at that moment.

It is not surprising that kids are usually more connected with what they find exciting. As they grow up, they lose their connection. It gets replaced with the voice of skepticism, adulting, and society that tells them to pursue things that are rarely related to what they find exciting.

I find those lucky who can retain or rediscover that spark when they grow up. Because this spark is what makes them unique and can turn into flames in the right environment with the right guidance.

Chasing milestones that aren’t energizing extinguishes the spark before it can turn into the fire of dreams.

The spark is rarely associated with an end goal. It is more of an activity or a state of being rather than a destination. It is about finding something you enjoy doing without getting attached to the end goal.

This brings me to the first thing that I want to share this week:

Podcast of the week: A conversation between Dany Miranda and Paul Millerd​

“How do I find a goal or something so audacious that is so inherent to me based on my own life experience and trajectory that I can aim for, but not feel attached to, that will still be fun if I’m in the process of achieving it?”

I think it is a great question to ask yourself to discover the spark you have in you.

Discovering the spark also requires blowing up your life to change your direction.

This brings me to the second thing:

Essay of the week: Blowing up your life​

In this essay, Sasha Chapin makes the case for blowing up your life to overcome the status quo and change the trajectory of your life.

“Status quo bias is utterly pervasive. Most people are tremendously resistant to change, capable of coming up with countless ingenious stories about why something different will be worse than what we have.”

The courage to change and the faith that it’d work out are important to try different things to rediscover your lost spark. You cannot expect to do the same things and expect the result to be different.

So, how do you find new things in the pursuit of your spark?

Maybe a potential answer lies in spiritual care.

Tweet thread of the week: Questions to ask for spiritual care

For chaplaincy school we were asked to keep a note of great questions to ask people for spiritual care

So I'm starting this thread to open-source my list…

1. What is it like to be you? https://t.co/BlWNztkJ41

— Christin Chong, PhD 🪅 (@Christintweets) June 10, 2023

This one is by Christin Chong who has generously open-sourced her list of great questions to ask people for spiritual care. The answers to some of these questions can also hint at your spark as I think that improving spiritual health could directly correlate with the discovery of the spark.

Some of my favorite questions from this list are:

• What question, if answered, can give you peace / set you free?
• If this is your last week alive, what would you be doing? Would you be doing what you’re doing now?
• What would you do if you didn’t need the money? OR What would you do if every kind of job pays the same?
• What’s the highlight of your day/week?
• What will you regret not doing/writing 6 months from now?

That’s all from me this week, folks!

Until next time,
Love,
Vishal

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