Young adults often reach an age where they ask themselves not in the exact words but in essence - “Have I lost my sparkle?”
If you are at some point in your late twenties like me, you’ve felt a loss of your past self. You might have this epiphany at multiple places - at work when you find a younger person be more enthusiastic about powerpoint presentations on a Thursday afternoon. Or on a Saturday night when you are out to buy groceries and see people decked up to live life. You may ask yourself - “What happened, man?”
If this was a self-help column, this would have been a good time to reassure you and tell you that you’ve just grown up and your priorities are different and the likes. But this isn’t a self-help column and I don’t think you should be mollycoddled. The truth is that most of us lose our sparkle to life. Life always has a way of getting in the way.
It is hard to keep fighting. We become a fraction of who we thought we could be. Most days we are too busy to notice. But, when we see someone who has preserved their sparkle through the middle ages or is young enough to not know what’s coming, we are envious of what they have. We suddenly are regretful of giving up too soon. What if we had tried a little harder? We like our role models watching inspirational underdog movies because they retained their sparkle despite it all - they remind us of who we could have been.
The sparkle is resilient though. It still shows up in certain places here and there, even if life has taken over. A night out with the good folks you grew up with - even if it takes a few drinks to get there. A solo trip where you meet strangers who don’t know you at all so you are allowed to whoever you want to be. Most of it washes away by Monday morning though.
Sparkle, in its most pragmatic form is decisiveness. It is when you decide that your identity and personality needs space in this world. It is having the belief that the world is better off with your presence in it. Everything you do in life builds stronger conviction for your sparkle to glow a little brighter.
Your sparkle isn’t just an aesthetic; it has a ripple effect. Your sparkle isn’t just an aesthetic; it has a ripple effect.When you walk into people’s lives and show up with your sparkle, it pushes people to save theirs. Your sparkle becomes a moral responsibility.
My favourite Bukowski poem is called spark. It had a line: “just a spark. save it.” I read it on days I want to remind myself to keep my quiet rebellion alive.
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Today’s word is by Ritika.
I am good friends with Ritika because I am always inspired by how she saves her sparkle despite it all. It pushes me to save my sparkle even if Ritika thinks I am too old to save it anymore.
She’s currently fighting her toughest battle to preserve her sparkle at b-school.