Glitters and Sparkles
To everyone who has lost a little of their sparkle along the way.
I just came across a rather interesting concept — “too many resources.”
You know how we’re surrounded by so many things to compare ourselves with, so many reasons to think, “Damn, how is he or she doing it all so effortlessly?”
Comparison has always been a part of human nature, but the thing is, today, we have so many more things to compare ourselves with, so many more reasons to feel dissatisfied with who we are.
It feels so weird to think that I’m comparing myself with some random stranger, probably from Kerala or Edinburgh or somewhere, and while looking at their life, I completely forget that while they’re working on themselves, I’m sitting here doomscrolling, wasting my time, and wishing I could be as successful as them.
It feels so stupid now that I’m writing it down.
But here’s the thing: it wasn’t entirely my fault, and it isn’t yours either.
We see ourselves in those reels. We imagine ourselves in those positions, living those lives, achieving those things. And somewhere in all these reflections, our real image gets blurred.
The truth is, we see the refined version, the filtered version, the version that looks almost pitch-perfect. But the backstory? That’s always different. It’s messy, complicated, and probably nothing like what we imagined.
And then there’s another kind of comparison. The one we make with ourselves.
I’m sure most of us have, at some point, related to that Dead Poets Society feeling of looking back and thinking, “I was good. I was really good.”
Honestly, I think this is the worst kind of comparison.
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Because comparing yourself with someone else makes you wish you had their life. But comparing yourself with your past self makes you wonder what happened to yours.
It’s that feeling when you can’t seem to find your spark anymore. When you miss the old you, when the things that once excited you feel a little dull, or when you look at yourself and think, I wasn’t always like this.
And I think that’s a feeling worth paying attention to.
Not because there’s something wrong with you, but because you deserve to feel connected to yourself again.
Pick up an old hobby. Talk to a friend. Do something that makes you feel like yourself, even if it’s something small. And if you still don’t feel okay, ask for help. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But please, don’t let yourself get lost in this maze of guilt, constantly mourning the person you used to be.
Sometimes, we lose our spark because we’re so busy trying to live up to the expectations we once set for ourselves that we forget to actually live.
We expect ourselves to be just as productive, just as ambitious, just as enthusiastic, just as everything as we once were. We forget that we’re allowed to change, to have difficult phases, to feel lost, and to begin again.
And maybe the old version of you isn’t someone you need to get back to. Maybe there’s a new version of you waiting to be discovered.
But it’s all okay, because I genuinely believe that we are the only ones to stop ourselves or to limit ourselves and if you think you are not able to do this yourself then just ask what’s wrong with that?. In fact,I think that’s the strongest thing one can do and if it makes our minds a little lighter, then why not?
Anywayy let’s bring back those glitter and sparkles that we loved so much as Life is too short to live like some 70’s black and white cinema .
Lots of love
Aarti
