Find Your Spark

The short story: I'm stuck, and a lot of others are too. If you are and want some weekly prompts to get unstuck, subscribe here.

Feeling Stuck? Missing that 'Spark'?

You're not alone.

I'm Darren as I write this first post, I'm 'stuck'.

Here's something I wrote a few days ago that tries to get at where I'm at.

An Ode to Stuckness

I’m stuck.

I’m stuck in a BIG way.

I’ve been stuck for months… maybe years.

It’s a creative rut, an emotional rut, a social rut, a spiritual rut - a life rut.

They say that the first step to solving a problem is to admit you've got a problem.

I’ve been admitting I have one for a while but just admitting it hasn't helped at all.

So I’m going to take another approach. One that’s helped in the past.

I will start taking small, daily, tangible actions.

The first step to getting unstuck is to move.

Little actions. Every day.

This is the first one.

I hope it helps.

OK - so I'm no poet, but funnily enough, the exercise of writing and sharing this little 'ode' did get me moving, just a little.

I wrote it on a day I was feeling frustrated. I didn't do so with the intent of sharing because, quite honestly, I was embarrassed by my predicament.

You see, just a few years ago (just before COVID hit), I had started a little Facebook group called 'Find Your Spark' - a place where I was sharing tips on getting your life moving.

Yet here I was - stuck and sparkless - again!

But on a whim, I shared my experience in the group, and within minutes of doing so, I started getting comments and direct messages.

"OMG - I'm stuck too!"

"You're not alone. This is me."

"I hear you. I will make this little steps with you"

"Stuck is my middle name."

"I've been feeling stuck since the pandemic started."

Coming out of a couple of years of a pandemic, it seems there are a lot of us in this boat.

This is Find Your Spark

Next week I'm turning 50.  

I don't want to spend the next few decades in the place I'm currently in.

I want whatever years I've got left to be years with meaning, adventure, bravery and significance.

I don't expect (or want) my life to be filled with fame or riches - I'm a middle-class Dad and husband living a suburban life in Melbourne, Australia - but I do want to make the most of the years that I have ahead.

If that's going to happen, I need to get moving again.

This little website is part of my plan to make that happen.

This is Find Your Spark - a place where I'm going to share weekly prompts to get unstuck.

Each prompt is something that I'm writing (mainly to myself) to ponder over the week that follows - something that I hope will spark something to get me (and you?) moving.

Join Me?

I want to make it clear that I'm doing this (at least in part) for selfish reasons. I want to get myself moving.

But as I found out by posting my poem - there are at least a few others who might need these prompts too.

If you are in the same boat, I'd love for you to follow along.

I'm not sure I want to put them completely out to the public, so to get them, I have started this site where you can subscribe and receive emails when new content is published.

Some of the prompts are based upon stuff I've written in the past (my past self giving my present self some advice), and some of it will be completely new.

I'm not 100% sure when each prompt will come out - I'll try to make them regular - and I may throw in some other posts from time to time. Expect the unexpected.

Whether we've connected in the past or are starting the journey together, I hope you find what comes over the next year helpful.

Update: you can see the prompts I've published so far here.