Find Your Spark

In this episode Brooke and Ashley discuss the first chapters of Michael Singer's New York Times bestseller, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself. Focusing on the way Singer describes the part of our mind that is constantly having its own conversation-with or without the REAL us participating. Brooke found insight because she realized just how easy it is for us to get swept up in the back-and-forth of our constant dialogue and lose sight in that fact that we are not our internal dialogue- ever. By reminding ourselves that thoughts shift and change as we gain new information, perspectives, or justifications, it is much easier to stop personalizing each thought that enters our minds.

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole and Mari talk about their experiences working with the young child program at the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers and sharing the differences between working with the population of 5-8 year old’s and working with the teens and adults. They both notice how young children are so in tune with their SPARK inside that this comes very natural for them to understand. They also say it’s very refreshing to be able to see how young children respond to this program and a beautiful reminder of the inner child we all have within.

In this episode, Stephanie is fresh off a relaxing vacation and excited to share reflections on a profound book she was given. The Art Spirit, written by Robert Henri in 1923, describes his philosophy on life and art. He beautifully articulates many of the same principles that resonate both personally and professionally with Stephanie and Spark. Among these, is that master works of art are created when we glimpse beyond the surface level of life and are able to put into form what we have seen. Like Spark, Robert Henri believed that every single person had the capacity to be in touch with the deeper part of themselves and thus everyone can be an artist. According to Henri, the most critical part of being an artist is this connectedness to your true self. Tune in and perhaps be inspired to bring out the artist in yourself this summer!

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie and SPARK Intern, Andres Medina, discuss the most impactful parts of recent SPARK facilitator training and reflect on their most meaningful moments. Andres hopes to use his time with the SPARK Initiative to gain experience mentoring individuals through the curriculum and become an influential leader. While sharing their passion for criminal justice, Stephanie and Andres state the importance of following your spark, even if it means listening a little longer, shining through the clouds, or taking the “next exit.” While speaking on how the curriculum lays a solid foundation for educators, they realize some of the best instruction comes from making it their own. Tune in to enjoy the fresh connection between Stephanie and Andres, following a unique training with other professionals in the field of social and emotional learning.

This week’s episode of the Find your Spark podcast is more like an open letter to those close to the SPARK family and those who are challenged to do the work of creating a better place for all of humanity. With humility and vulnerability, Brooke opens up about a recent heartbreaking incident involving her daughter that brought her family to their knees and ended up in the national spotlight for a few days. Listen as Brooke navigates her raw emotions surrounding this incident and straddles the urge to fight in anger, run away or rise up. What emerges beautifully is a deeper knowing of why human connection, understanding and compassion are vitality important for our children- now more than ever.

Special Note: At SPARK, this incident has given us a renewed purpose and motivation to reach young people, specifically in our own back yard to help them connect with themselves and each other more deeply than our current culture is allowing. If this podcast resonates with you and you would like to join forces, please reach out to us! We are always looking for creative ways to help all young people find their inner SPARK.

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole introduces The SPARK Initiative’s 2 new employees, Mari and Chad. Mari is our new Research and Development Coordinator, and Chad is our Executive Assistant. Since their first day, they have been pretty busy learning their roles, completing the Insight to Well-Being curriculum training with Beyond Recovery, and Mari has also done some shadowing in our local support group with Selah Freedom’s sex-trafficking survivors. In this podcast, you can hear them share what they have learned so far, some personal insights and what they look forward to being a part of the SPARK Team!

In this episode, Stephanie opens up about a recent low state of mind she had been in. She recalls the moments that she started to realize her own mental health was just as important as those around her that she helps on a daily basis. She shares how she knew something needed to shift internally and that it meant taking action externally. At the moment of this insight, she didn’t know what action to take but was in a new state of being, open to seeing something. In a way, the aperture on her lens widened. Her antennas stood alert for a signal. The usual noise in her head lowered its volume just enough to hear the whispers of the ‘nudges’ and the faint sensing of the bread crumbs leading somewhere... Stephanie followed the breadcrumbs and accepted a job at the local church. Now that this job is ending, she reflects on how this experience has elevated her wellbeing: it’s exactly what her SPARK ordered. Coincidentally, it’s the topic that Ashley had just finished teaching at a local jail in Tampa. Through a fun game of ‘spoons’ women explored what it’s like to be closed off from potential and then what it’s like to truly open our eyes and begin to see things we never saw before. When we widen our lens, our mind will show us other possibilities. We have options and are actually never stuck. Join in the exploration!

This weeks’ episode of the Find your Spark podcast was very special, as we had our first ever live audience while recording our podcast! Brooke and Ashley were in Palm Springs, Ca last week for the BOOST conference, and during the conference they were given this unique opportunity to go live! Brooke kicked off the podcast by sharing a story of something that happened right before leaving for this conference, that normally would have had her unpacking her bags and deciding to stay home. However, she realized some really important things about not going to the worst-case scenario and knowing that her families SPARK would shine through if needed, without her having to be there. Since we had a live audience, we then turned it over to them to share, and one participant spoke about always going to the worst-case scenario, but why don’t we ever think, what if there’s cake? We loved it so much, it became this week’s title!

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie and Jena share their personal stories about taking things personal. But what if everything wasn’t personal? Jena talks about her kids not doing their chores and instead of taking it as a direct attack, they come up with a new solution that is more helpful in their day-to-day life. Stephanie speaks about her recent experience involving her landlord. From new people being in the building to email exchanges, listen to what lead Stephanie to a thought storm of being kicked out of her apartment. Tune in to hear why it can never really be personal and when we aren’t caught up in our thinking, we can always see a bigger picture!

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Ashley talk about how our thoughts can take us for a crazy ride! Brooke shares a story about how her losing her keys led her to thinking intruders were “casing the joint” and going to break into her house. Listen to hear where they really were, and how her imagination got the best of her! Trust us, you will want to listen to how this story all played out!