#sparkchamber 102521 — Sarah Vienot Reflects
It’s birthday week in #sparkchamber, and Fussfactory’s own Sarah Vienot takes time out to reflect on life and times this past revolution — or two — around the big fireball in the sky. In her own words:
I’ve been operating these past 19+ months with no real sense of time passing, save for the seasons, and the sun setting and rising. But in general, there’s a groundhog-day quality to life since lockdown began. Even with things opening up more and the ability to be more social and do things like eat at restaurants, travel, enjoy live events with actual people, there is still a sense we are suspended in time … lending to a certain rudderless way of navigating through our daily round.
I recently listened to author Oliver Burkeman via NPR’s Life Kit podcast. One of his ideas about the concept of time was so simple and so mind-bendingly great that my brain immediately recognized it as truth. The concept is this — we are time. We are not managing time, making time, spending time … time is not the resource — WE are! What a revelation! Once you realize your own finitude, you can relax and get on with things. The power of constraints provides freedom. [You can check out the episode here — I promise, it’s well worth your time :-) ]
Prior to lockdown, I took inspiration from everything — I still do, but now I have to be more intentional about it because I’m not bumping into people like before, or visiting new places and spaces to the same degree. The #sparkchamber remains a constant connection to a bigger, better world, serving up a steady stream of gifts in the form of inspiration from all over the globe and from people of all stamps and stripes. Here’s a handful of some of the gems from over the years. These are also wonderfully simple and mind-bendingly great:
Learning new skills actively feeds your curiosity and makes you a powerful and prolific creator
You are the expert of your own experiences
Your weaknesses can become your strengths
Surrounding your dreams with structure allows you to create anything you wish
Make space in your creative process for your well-being
Follow your hunches
Mine your memories and combine them with new perspectives
Pay attention to areas most people overlook
A small step invariably leads to the next step
A rich fulfilling life is something we all deserve
Heaps of gratitude to all of our #sparkchamber participants. You are the gift that keeps on giving!
1.] Where do ideas come from?
Somebody said — and I think it’s one of the principles of the New Age, but I also think it’s true — that if you perceive the universe as being a universe of abundance, then it will be. If you think of the universe as one of scarcity, then it will be. I always thought that there was enough of everything to go around — that there are enough ideas in the universe and enough nourishment.
Milton Glaser — graphic designer and artist
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
Most importantly I set about 55 years ago, at age 32, to undertake an experiment in individual initiative. I undertook to see what a penniless, unknown human individual with a dependent wife and newborn child might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity.
Buckminster Fuller — architect, inventor, and futurist
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
So stay true to your own nature. If you like to do things in a slow and steady way, don’t let others make you feel as if you have to race. If you enjoy depth, don’t force yourself to seek breadth. If you prefer single-tasking to multi-tasking, stick to your guns. Being relatively unmoved by rewards gives you the incalculable power to go your own way.
Susan Cain — author and speaker
4.] How do you know when you are done?
Finite creatures can’t do an infinite number of things — that’s just math. Once you let this truth settle in, that’s when you get to drop this impossible quest, and direct your focus and time and energy toward a handful of things that really matter.
Oliver Burkeman — journalist and writer