Have you ever experienced survivor guilt? Hearing the story of the lone survivor of the recent Air India crash was a reminder of the fragility of life and the need to keep seeking answers to life’s big questions.

Welcome to the 118^th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a simple living challenge for the week. In addition to survivor guilt, this week’s edition looks at bioswales, compostable meat packaging, and the power of the 2-minute tidy.

On my mind this week: Survivor guilt and life’s big questions

If you’ve been watching the news over the last couple of weeks, the name Vishwash Kumar Ramesh might be familiar to you. He’s the lone survivor of the Air India crash. From the footage of the crash scene, it barely seemed possible that anyone could walk away from that disaster. Yet miraculously he did.

As I saw the interviews with Vishwash, I was taken back to the days immediately following 9/11. Countless news stories reported people saying, “I would have been in those buildings, but…” Stories of life’s minor annoyances—late trains, alarm clocks that failed to go off, delayed appointments—all leading people to ask, “What if?”.

As we go through life, we like to think we’re in control. But these survivorship stories are stark reminders that any illusion of control is false. Depending on your personal beliefs, you may put it down to coincidence or just dumb luck. But I believe there’s something bigger at play.

Why me?

This week, Vishwash attended the funeral of his brother, who died in the crash. My heart broke for him as he carried his brother’s coffin. I can only imagine the survivor guilt he must be feeling.

I know a thing or two about survivor guilt. Next week marks 14 years since my breast cancer diagnosis. I’ve often wondered over the years why I’m still here, and so many others aren’t.

Most survivors will ask “Why me?” at some point in the aftermath of a life changing wake-up call. I’ve asked that question many times. As a person of faith, I believe God has a plan for me, and I hadn’t fulfilled it at the time of my cancer diagnosis. That always leads to deeper questions. What is the plan for my life? How can I make the most of each day? Am I doing what I should be doing? What am I missing?

Survivor guilt is a reminder that time is precious and not to be wasted, and it’s good to pause and ask life’s big questions from time to time.

None of us knows how much time we have on this Earth. My Dad always used to say, “When your time is up, it’s up, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” That mindset can help us deal with life’s day to day annoyances.

Ultimately, survivor guilt can destroy us, or it can be a powerful motivator to turn a difficult situation into a positive. I pray Vishwash finds a way to move forward and honour his brother’s legacy.

As for me, I’m still figuring out the answers to life’s big questions! Stay tuned…

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• We finally got some rain, and my tomato plants are grateful. They’ve doubled in size this week.
• We enjoyed the first fresh-picked local strawberries of the season. So delicious!
• Both of our daughters arrived home on Friday. They’re home for 10 days! It will be so nice to have some family time.

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are a couple of things I learned this week:

Boston replaces roadside grass with bioswales

The city of Boston is replacing strips of grass along the edges and the middle of its roadways into a type of “green infrastructure” called a bioswale.

A bioswale is a landscaped depression designed to capture and filter rainwater. Bioswales play an important role in flood control—unlike grassy medians where water simply runs off them contributing to flooding. Bioswales also improve air quality, reduce urban heat islands, and provide habitat for wildlife.

The Boston bioswale project is similar to one recently implemented in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.

(Source: CBC What on Earth)

Innovative compostable meat tray packaging

One of the things I hate about buying meat is the styrofoam and plastic packaging.

Alabama company NantBioRenewables has developed a compostable meat tray made from ocean materials. Unlike standard meat trays that produce carbon during the manufacturing process, this tray is carbon negative—pulling CO₂ out of the air during production.

(Source: Happy Eco News)

This week’s simple living challenge – The 2-minute tidy

Simplifying life is a big part of living more intentionally. With that in mind, I kicked off the year with 52 ways to simplify your life this year, including a downloadable checklist of weekly tasks.

This week’s challenge is to make the 2-minute tidy a habit. It’s simple! Take two minutes throughout the day to tidy a specific space in your home. It could be the kitchen before bed, or your bedroom first thing in the morning. Learn more about the power of 2-minute habits in this post I wrote for Wise & Shine.

I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.