I often have "sparks." I get an idea. I take it so far and then it fizzles. Meh, maybe it just wasn't meant to be or I hadn't put enough thought into it. I once thought that I would like some property to create a memorable garden like Giverny. I really hadn't considered the cost - irrigation, metal trellises, labour, plants, soil and then where would I live. Why, where I live right now, in a dream world.
We do, though, need these "sparks" to get "sparked." We need a purpose or a burning desire to get on with something or at least I do. Certainly there are people who can live with a comfortable regime, repeated daily, but I need a purpose. I am very goal oriented and have to work towards the end product. Others are process oriented, often having no goal at all except to enjoy the day. I envy these people. They live in the moment. Do they ever need to get "sparked?"
Over the years I have been sparked by business ideas mainly. I once encouraged a group of colleagues, all teachers, to start a goal setting, self-help group. It was based on the idea of Weight-Watchers except that instead of setting a weight loss goal, you set a personal goal. We called it "Woman Unlimited" and we had about 15 people sign up in September to come one evening a week to set goals and monitor their progress.
It was fun, but it was difficult to get people out on a regular basis, even with guest speakers. So, we closed it the following May. What I got out of it, though, was the realization of a goal I had set myself. I wanted to get back in touch with people I'd let slip out of my life. I finally wrote to my friend in England, with whom I had lost touch. We've been writing every since and that was almost 40 years ago.
Of the regular attendees, some changed jobs, others made great network connections and others thought we were nuts, maintaining that a woman had one goal - to care for her family. Woman Unlimited was a challenge.
Still, goal setting, for me, is the spark to get up and do something. The trick is to keep that spark going. It may light the fire, but you still have to fuel that fire, fan it and generally make sure it doesn't burn out.
The pictures - just some sparks. Actually the second one down was my daughter's spark to bike over the Golden Gate Bridge. We all did it in 2017!! The last one is from the Yves St Laurent museum in Marrakesh. I have always been sparked by costume and fashion design.
Have a sparkling day!!
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