Light Your Spark

I recently read a Harvard Business Review article called “Why You Should Have (At Least) Two Careers,” written by a finance executive who is also a musician and author. As a brand strategist who is also a visual artist, it spoke to me. I shared it on LinkedIn with a post that read, “Amen to this! I’ve had two careers my whole work life. Sometimes they’re totally separate, and other times they converge or even weave together in unexpected and wonderful ways.”

The post went viral. Almost half a million people viewed it, and thousands of those engaged with likes, reshares, and comments. They spoke of dreaming of an alternate career path, or secretly following one, hoping that their creative project might somehow become a “real job” or that it might integrate with their full-time work. 

We are all creative. Inside all of us is a practical, logical, analytical self, who’s perhaps good at math or simply good at paying the bills on time, jockeying for space with a creative, curious, free-spirit self, with wide-ranging interests and a desire to explore. Your creative side that sometimes feels like a conflict within might actually be the very thing that makes you unique and unlocks personal fulfilment and professional achievement. What they were seeking, put simply, was creativity at work.

The easiest way to access your creativity is through a passion, which can be art or music or writing—or paddle tennis or dog breeding or coding. Anything that lights your spark. Then you can bring your unique creative spark to bear on whatever you do and make your work shine.