Sparks That Lit The Fuse

Some things to inspire you.

I often wonder about what kinds of things pique the curiosity of others. Something that might send me down a three hour internet rabbit hole might illicit a shrug and a swipe from someone else.

It’s so rare, though, isn’t it? When something really grabs you? Pulls you out of your life for a second to make you marvel at its existence?

So I got to thinking, would something that inspired me inspire someone else?

Let’s see. Below is a smattering of provocative items destined to get your wheels turning, a little package of surprises to swirl your insides.

Maybe they’ll spark something in you.

Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash, Edited by Me

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#1 The world’s deepest man-made hole is in Russia and it only goes 8 miles down

It’s called the Kola Superdeep Borehole SG-3 and was abandoned in 2008. When I learned about it my first thought was, “That’s all? Just 8 miles?” I mean… the Earth’s diameter is 8 THOUSAND MILES. And aren’t humans constantly drilling holes in things? I just sort of assumed we would’ve gotten way deeper than that by now. And then in true weird Russian fashion, they just put a cap on it and left it to rot? The world’s deepest hole? Bananas. How Stuff Works

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#2 An abandoned Japanese island

I guess I find abandoned places especially inspiring. Looking at these pictures of Hashima Island, I can’t help but imagine the lives that once filled these buildings and then think about what might be living there now amongst the ruins… Creepy things. Magical things? Things I can’t even conceive of, maybe… This website really takes you through it: Hashima Island - The Forgotten World

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#3 Hummingbirds might be our dead grandmas

For the life of me, I cannot remember where I came across this. Did someone say it in conversation? Did I hear it on a podcast? Read it somewhere? But I definitely heard someone say they felt their dead grandmother was visiting them as a hummingbird.

Every morning I see hummingbirds outside our kitchen window. Therefore, every time I’ve seen one this month I’ve been thinking how weird it would be if each one was somebody’s Nana. Imagine the birds below offering you hot cocoa and it will weird you out too! Or make you smile. Or both!

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#4 Photos that make me hold my breath

This photographer is amazing. His name is Adeolu Osibodu and he’s from Nigeria, now based in London. Any words I write to describe these images feel lacking so I just won’t put any. Adeolu Osibodu's Website

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#5 The bottom of the world

When my friend Jaden lived in Antarctica, working first at McMurdo Station and then at the Amundsen-Scott Station, he would send emails full of fascinating details. Things like:

• what it feels like when your eyelashes and nosehairs freeze, which happens every time you step outside

• it is so cold there they need freezers to keep their ice cream WARM

• you see sundogs which are bright spots of light that appear in the sky when sunlight refracts off ice crystals. They are also known as mock suns or parhelia, which is a Greek word that means "beside the sun.” I’ve included an example below.

If you want to blink and then realize that your whole afternoon has gone by, check out this guy’s instagram which is filled with incredible images and captions documenting his time there: @mattykjordan

Also, just for fun, because it takes place in Antarctica, here is a mashup of The Thing (one of my favorite movies of all time) and the Muppets.

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So, those were some of the things that sparked for me this July. I hope something in here maybe stirred something for you as well!