Shownotes
Sometimes change does not arrive as a big realization. It comes as a single small spark of clarity at the right moment. One thought that finally feels true after years of feeling almost true. One sentence that lands differently because you are finally ready to hear it. This conversation is about those small sparks, not the loud arrivals.
Host Shreya sits with Julie Grimm to gather a few of them together. They explore joy that needs no reason, the quiet way old stories like "I'm not good enough" loosen their grip, why service is a doorway back to self-worth, and how gratitude keeps the chase from becoming an empty dream. Pocket-sized wisdom for an ordinary week.
About the Guest:
Julie Grimm is a spiritual guide and healer who works one-on-one with people, including around colour and style, and offers meditations. She is the author of the eBook About Faith and shares a free intuition workbook for those reconnecting with their inner knowing.
Key Takeaways:
- Joy can arrive in the smallest, most ordinary moment, with nothing needing to change. Presence is often the whole point.
- "I'm not good enough" can quietly become an excuse not to try. Putting yourself out there, and hearing real feedback, dissolves the story.
- Anyone can be great because anyone can serve. There is always someone you can help, and what feels small to you may be huge to them.
- Gratitude for what you have already built keeps ambition from turning into a chase that nothing can ever satisfy.
- Life moves in ebbs and flows. The low passes, so ask gently whether you are resisting coming back into the light.
Connect With Julie Grimm:
Website: https://www.spiritualstudies-institute.com (includes a free intuition workbook)
Book: About Faith (eBook, available on Amazon)
Episode Chapters:
[00:00] The Power of a Small Spark — why change often arrives softly
[03:00] Joy on an Ordinary Street — a breakthrough that needed no reason (approx.)
[09:00] The "Not Good Enough" Story — how it loosened its grip (approx.)
[15:00] Anyone Can Serve — service as a doorway back to worth (approx.)
[21:00] A Spark for a Heavy Tuesday — life as an adventure, not a test (approx.)
[26:00] Gratitude and the Spark Worth Passing On (approx.)
[29:00] Where to Find Julie — Spiritual Studies Institute and About Faith (approx.)
🎙️ Want to Be a Guest on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life?
Send me a direct message on PodMatch.
👉 DM Me Here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/avik
🌱 About Healthy Mind By Avik™️
Healthy Mind By Avik™️ Global Mental Wellness Podcast Network - focused, credible, no more identity clutter.
👉 Subscribe and be part of this healing journey.
Refer a Guest
Know someone who would be a great fit for one of our podcast shows? Email us at [email protected] with the subject line “Refer a Guest.” Requests without this subject line cannot be catered to.
Support Our Podcast: Support this Podcast
📬 Contact & Links
Brand: Healthy Mind By Avik™️
Based in: India & USA
📌 Disclaimer - This episode is produced for educational and informational purposes only. All views expressed by the guest are their personal opinions alone and do not represent the views of the host or Healthy Mind by Avik™. The Network does not verify, endorse, or assume responsibility for any guest statements. Nothing in this episode constitutes medical, legal, financial, or professional advice, please consult a qualified professional before making any decisions. Listeners are encouraged to engage critically and independently with all content do not consume blindly. Use this content as a starting point for your own reflection and research, not as a substitute for professional guidance. Third-party content is referenced under fair use for informational purposes only. Guest speakers are solely responsible for their own statements.
If you have concerns about any content, please contact us here
By listening, you acknowledge and accept this disclaimer in full. Read detailed disclaimer here.
#podmatch #healthymindbyavik #podhub.club #SoulSparks #SmallSparks #InnerShift #SelfWorth #Gratitude #Presence #Mindfulness #SpiritualGrowth #JoyInTheOrdinary #ServiceAndPurpose #EbbAndFlow #HealingJourney
Transcripts
00:00:00 Shreya: Sometimes the change in a life does not come from a big realization. It comes from a single, small spark of clarity that arrives at the right moment. One thought that suddenly feels true after years of feeling almost true. One sentence somebody says that lands differently because you are finally ready to hear it. One quiet noticing of yourself that makes everything afterwards a little lighter. That is what the show is about. Not the big arrivals, the small sparks. And tonight we are going to gather a few of them together with someone who knows the value of a single, honest moment.
00:00:46 Shreya: So welcome to Soul Sparks. I'm your host, Shreya, and this is the show where we sit with the small, bright, true things that shift our inner world without making a big announcement. conversations, real reflections and the kind of insight that fits in your pocket for the rest of the week. And tonight is going to be one of those conversations. My guest tonight is Julie Graham, who brings her own grounded experience and warmth into this space. So welcome, Julie. I'm really honored and glad to have you here on my show.
00:01:16 Julie Grimm: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.
00:01:19 Shreya: Thank you so much for joining. And just before we begin, a disclaimer for my listeners,
00:02:03 Shreya: And with that, Julie, I'm going to start somewhere simple. Uh, what is one thing you noticed about yourself this morning that felt honest. In a way, you appreciate it.
00:02:16 Julie Grimm: Well, this morning I actually just got back from being away from home almost eighteen days. So I just appreciated waking up in my own bed and having that, uh, being, having that gratitude just for the life that I've created for myself and to have that space to return to.
00:02:37 Shreya: That's beautiful. And thank you for sharing this. And I want to start gently here. Like sparks usually arrive in our own life before we ever share them with anyone else. So can I take us back or walk us into a single small moment in your life where one white realization changed something inside you, even if nothing on the outside changed for a while afterwards? And, uh, can you tell us, uh, what you understood about yourself in that moment that you did not understand a day before?
00:03:08 Julie Grimm: Yeah, I think that's a wonderful and amazing point because it so often it does take time for the inner shifts to present externally. And we can feel like, oh my gosh, all this things has changed. But then other people might not yet see it from the outside perspective. So it's important that in that time of waiting, we don't give up or we don't discount those aha moments. Um, one moment that I can remember was simply I was just walking down the street, just walking down the street. Maybe the sun was out. It was a spring day, but inside I felt so much joy within my being. And it was like a joy that I had never really felt before. And again, it's not that I could place exactly. You know, there wasn't this thing that had happened that had brought me there. It was simply being present in that exact moment, being not needing anything to change. Not needing anything to be different and just being so contented and so full of joy. And that for me was a big breakthrough because it showed me in a way, you know, we're always chasing new ideas, new businesses, new plans, relationships. But joy can come from the simplest, smallest moment.
00:04:35 Shreya: Yes. And the part of you that needed to hear that spark. What had she been carrying for too long?
00:04:45 Julie Grimm: It probably is just so much worry, so many worries all the time. Worrying about oh, what? What more do I need to do? Um, you know, how how can I be better? Things like that. How can I always do better? Which those aren't bad thoughts. But if we're always in that cycle, then we're never really just enjoying, enjoying where we are enjoying the moment and the beauty of the day, which is always there for us.
00:05:14 Shreya: Yeah, I think there is something honest in what you just said about the gap between the inner and the outer change. Like we tend to imagine that meaningful shift are loud. And the truth is they are almost always quiet at first. A single sentence that rearranges something inside, like while the outside keeps looking exactly the same for weeks. And, uh, there is a particular kind of inner story most of us carried for years before we realized it was not actually true. A loud sentence about ourselves that we let drive too many decisions. Can you tell me about one of yours? Like the version of yourself you used to believe in? Completely, and the spark that started loosening her grip? I'm not looking for the polished version version. I'm looking for the version, uh, where? The realization was uncomfortable at first.
00:06:10 Julie Grimm: Sure. So for quite some time I thought, you know, I'm not good enough that there again, I was always like, okay, what more can I do? I have these dreams, I have these hopes, I have these desires. But at the same time, I was fearing that I'm not good enough for those dreams. I'm not good enough to achieve those things. And what started to happen within me was I realized, um, saying I'm not good enough. In a sense, it was almost like an excuse because then I didn't have to try. I didn't have to put myself out there and maybe fail. I didn't have to put myself out there. And, you know, we, we just because you try something, you might not always get it. It doesn't mean you're not good enough. It just that's part of how we learn. That's part of how we grow that sometimes we have to do something many, many times until we really achieve it. And it's again, it's not about good enough. It's about how much time and effort have you put into something. So I started to realize that that story was actually almost like I was using it as an excuse to not put myself out there to try to make my dreams happen. And that as I started to put myself out there, I actually got quite a lot of feedback from my clients, from my teachers. Oh my gosh, you're doing this amazingly. You're so talented at this. Thank you so much. You've helped me so much. And as I got the feedback, I was like, this is my answer. You know, if I let myself stop just from I don't think I'm good enough, I never would have been able to get the feedback of all these people saying thank you, how much I'd helped them, or even my teachers who helped to train me saying, wow, you really, you know, you were really good in this in this area. And so we can't let that become an excuse, you know, just because we might not get something on the first try. It's not about good enough. It's just that's how life is, that we need to keep trying at things more than just once. Uh, and, and each time we get better and better and better and as well, especially if it's a business where maybe you're helping others or you work with clients, you know, the client feedback can be an amazing way to break that story down because the feedback is going to reflect back, actually, you did a great job and you really helped me. And I've had people, many people actually tell me, oh my gosh, that was life changing. And it's like, if I had let that story stop me, then I wouldn't have been able to help that person in that way. Yes.
00:08:53 Shreya: And, uh, like, what was the first small action you took once the old story started losing the grip?
00:09:05 Julie Grimm: Just really putting myself out there, just making starting up a conversation. So again, I have a client facing business. I'm a spiritual guide. I also work one on one with people around color, style, things like that. And so I just started to, um, engage with people, you know, if somebody liked my outfit, then I would start having a conversation with them, get to know them, get to understand them and, and invite them. Hey, I do full moon meditations. Hey, I do these things just to open myself up out of my comfort zone. Of course, I have people who book consultations with me. So they're, you know, they've Google searched me. So it's a bit of a different dynamic there because they've actually come to find me. But I started to open myself and break out not just people who came to find me, but actually going out of my way to meet new people, like at networking events and things like that. And it was really just building relationships. Um, which it's not transactional. It's not like, here's my business. Do you want to buy something from me instantly? Right. It's more just, oh, who are you? What's going on in your life? What are you interested in? And then if there was like a mutual, you know, maybe they would like my services. Maybe they wanted to partner. Maybe there was some way that we could help each other and build the relationship that way. I started to see, you know, I can I can make a difference. And it doesn't have to be so hard as I was making it in my mind.
00:10:41 Shreya: Yeah, that really lands because I think this is something a lot of listeners are working with right now, like a story about themselves that has been driving for too long without their permission. And the way you describe it, loosening, not collapsing dramatically, just quietly loosening gives people permission to let go of their own old stories without expecting a movie scene to mark the moment. And most of us, when we look back, do not actually have a thousand insights guiding our lives. We have three or four that we keep returning to in different forms. So can you tell me about one of yours? Like a spark that has stayed with you, that you find yourself coming back to whenever the world starts shaking you like, what is it? Where did it come from and why has it stayed?
00:11:33 Julie Grimm: So I guess kind of on the theme of my breakthrough around not feeling good enough, not feeling worthy was about service. And I think this is actually a quote that I can't take credit for it. It's a quote from, I think it's Martin Luther King Jr. But he says anyone can be great because anyone can serve. And so my, my moment here was we you could there's always somebody that you can help, always somebody that you can help. Even if we think, oh, I don't have this big skill set. Or maybe I don't have one million followers or I don't have this. I don't have that. The truth of the story is there's always somebody that you can serve, always somebody that you can help, always somebody where maybe, maybe it's you give them a lift somewhere. Maybe, you know, of course you can donate to charity, but maybe there's some wisdom that you have that for some reason you're discounting or, you know, you're like, you're saying you're looking for this really big grand idea where it could just be this very small, uh, sentence that you say that could change somebody's life. And if we discount it, if we say, oh, well, again, I'm not Tony Robbins, I don't speak on stage. I don't do this. I don't do that. Then we box ourselves in and we prevent ourselves from sharing the wisdom and the goodness that we have. So anyone can be great because anyone can serve. If you're looking for a sense of purpose or again, battling with self-worth. It's like, go help a woman, an old woman, cross the street. You know, she's going to be so grateful. She's going to think you're a superhero. You know, go help somebody open a door or carry a bag. You know, if you see somebody with a lot of bags and they can't open the door, you just open the door for them, they're going to go, oh my gosh, thank you. And that's where, you know, as individuals in this world, we actually rely on one another. Right? There's so many people in a day whose services I need in order to get where I need to go, get my gas tank filled up, get my coffee, you know, have my electricity work. And so all those people matter to, to think that you don't matter just because maybe you feel your contribution is small, but then it's like, well, small on what scale? Because to another person, that small thing could actually be huge. That could be the make or break of their day. That could be, oh my gosh, I was in such a terrible mood. And now you totally changed my day for me. Thank you so much. Right.
00:14:15 Shreya: Yeah. Uh, like there is something I want to hold for a second because, like, what you shared is the kind of personal lighthouse. Most people never name out loud. Like we have one or two. The phrases, the images, uh, the small inner anchors that quietly hold us through long stretches. And by naming yours, you just reminded a lot of listeners that they have one too. And I want to bring this all the way down to the practical, the honest, hard, ordinary days, not the dark night of the soul, just the regular Tuesday where the world feels a little heavier than it should. What is the small spark you would offer somebody listening for one of those days? Not a coach, not a meme. A real lived, gentle. reframe that has actually walked you through your own hard Tuesdays.
00:15:09 Julie Grimm: So I'm a spiritual guide. So, you know, this is going to come through a spiritual lens now, but I do think having a deeper connection and it's going to be different for some people. Some people have a belief in God, some people have a belief in spirit, some people might not know. But for me, coming into more of a spiritual perspective helped me find endurance for days that were really hard because I was able to see, you know, this physical life. It's important. It's hugely important. But the, the small, they don't feel small in the moment. They feel like the big obstacles, the hard moments, they're just a small blip on the radar of the big picture of our spirit. You know, I believe that as a spiritual being, we've never been born. Therefore we can never die. The essence of our spirit is eternal. So here we are having a physical moment, a physical experience, and yes, it's hard. It has challenges and things go wrong. But in a way, from the perspective of our spirit, it's actually like an adventure. Even when things go wrong, it's kind of an adventure. And the mistakes are part of that because how else are we meant to learn, right? If we don't give ourselves permission to make a choice that we go, oh, I wish I hadn't done that, then how else would we know, really? So it's sort of like allowing ourselves that freedom to have the ups and downs, to have our story not be perfect all the time. But actually, that is, for me, part of the joy of living is the ability to experience, to have this really big range of different things that I can experience, both the highs and the lows and the good days and the bad. It's like, oh, well, my spirit is here kind of on like a roller coaster ride. Getting to ride the ride and go, oh my gosh. Oh no. Oh my gosh. Oh no. And I need to allow that process to happen. You know, not to say that I'm going to run headlong into a mistake if I can tell that it is because I don't want to do that to myself. But on the same token, there's there's things that we need to do in life, and we need to give ourselves permission to sometimes be wrong. And from that, we can go, okay, I don't want to do that again. I want to try something else. It's like, if you know, you only eat pasta for your entire life where you only eat white rice for your entire life. Okay. You know, you're probably not going to ever, you know, have stomach issues or whatnot. But in the same token, it's not really you're not really getting the whole sample of what is life about. And so, you know, we can stay in our box all, all of our life, and we're going to be safe. But is that really why our spirit came here? Did our spirit come here just to be safe? Or from my perspective, I feel like my spirit said, oh, that looks like a good adventure. Let's, uh, let's try it out.
00:18:19 Shreya: Yeah. And, uh, the way you remind yourself of it when you forget. What is it?
00:18:28 Julie Grimm: I'm, you know, I'm more than just this physical body. You know, when I'm seventy years old, eighty years old, and I'm maybe going to pass over. Will I even remember that moment where, oh my gosh, I forgot to pay my bill online or something, and now I'm a day late. No, you're not going to remember that. You're going to remember the adventure that you have. You're going to remember the relationships that you formed. You're going to remember, you know, all these wonderful things that you've done. So it's sort of the, you know, in a day, if we just look at the day, sure, something can feel huge and overwhelming, but if we look in the big picture of our life and then the big picture from our spirit, it's like, okay, I don't need to stress about this. I don't need to obsess about this. You know, it's going to be okay. It really is going to be okay. Uh, and it might be uncomfortable. It might not be pleasant, but, you know, in a week's time, am I even going to think about this again? Probably not. Okay, then it's not worth more for me to worry about.
00:19:41 Shreya: Yeah, I love that you brought it down to something that is small and simple, because this is exactly where most spiritual or motivational content fail. Ordinary people like it is too big to use, and what you just offered fits inside a real moment between a meeting and a meal without any setup. I think this is what makes a spark a spark. It is portable. It is survives the day and kind of take us forward a little. Like sometimes the spark we needed was actually meant to be passed on. So can you tell me about somebody in your life right now? Somebody real, somebody listening might recognize themselves in. Uh, what is the spark you would gently offer if they were sitting here in front of you tonight? Not the advice, the spark, the single, small, honest thing you would want them to carry into the next week.
00:20:39 Julie Grimm: Yeah. I think it would be gratitude that, again, we're always, if we're wanting more, wanting to achieve more, we have plans and goals for ourselves, but at the same time, we have no gratitude for what we've already done. We have no appreciation for Ourselves for the hard work that we've done for, you know, just how we are, the life that we've built, then it's always going to be like chasing an empty dream. You know, we're it's never going to be enough. Nothing will ever be enough if we don't have gratitude. So having gratitude for the what you've already built, which doesn't mean, okay, you can't get bigger and do more and you don't have dreams, but it just means I appreciate, I appreciate what I already have, I'm grateful for the people in my life, even sometimes the hard people in my life, because even they are, you know, adding something to me and I'm grateful for, uh, yeah, whatever you've created, even if you would like it to grow and change.
00:21:50 Shreya: Yeah. And like what stops most of us from seeing that spark out loud to the people who need it, Even when we are clearly thinking it.
00:22:01 Julie Grimm: I think sometimes we're afraid. I know for myself that I fear the person will feel judged if I'm kind of like trying to almost correct them or, you know, they, they, to your point, it's not really advice, but if they've not really asked for advice or insight, then it might feel like, okay, I'm just trying to, um, put a band aid on them or somehow make them feel better. But the truth is, to your point, it's important to share because it might if the person is open and receptive to it, it might be exactly what they need to make the shift within their mind and to, um, you know, to come into a more graceful way of living. MM.
00:22:46 Shreya: Yeah. I think that is the line. I think a lot of listeners needed to hear right now tonight, because there is something so simple and so undervalued about offering a small, honest thing to somebody we love without dressing it up, without explaining it, without making sure it is going to land. And, uh, if somebody listening is in a stage of life that has felt Dean for a while, what is one thing you want them to walk away with from this conversation?
00:23:18 Julie Grimm: One thing I would say is that that there's ebbs and flows in life. You know, just as we have day, we have night. So what I know is that everything passes. It's going to pass. Although it might feel like it's been going on forever, it will end and the light will start to shine again. So for me, when I'm in the low, the low energy, okay, yes, we need to be supported. So who can you reach out to? Who can you get support from? Maybe friends, family, loved ones? Of course, I'm a spiritual guide, so that's part of the work that I do for people. But additionally, knowing that it's not going to be forever and not getting too attached because sometimes I see people, they actually, in a way, they stay longer than they need in the. The dim moment in the dark where the light is out, but they're kind of afraid to come back into the light because it's been so long, they don't even remember what it's like to have fun, have joy, have these good relationships or whatever they feel has been lacking. And so I see sometimes people struggle in that transition where it's actually time for them to leave the low moment, but they don't even remember what it's like to not be there. And so allowing, allowing and trusting that that ebb and flow, that process of, of life, because nothing is forever. Everything's changing all the time here in Boston, it's spring, it's almost summer. The days are getting longer. And so it's, it's the same within our life that we have highs and we have lows, but nothing's going to stay forever. So if you're in a low moment, it's going to pass. And if you you feel like you've been there for a long time, my question would be, how are you resisting coming back into the high moment? How are you resisting? Or maybe you're afraid to love again. You're afraid to feel light again. You're afraid to have joy because you feel that you might lose it. And so we have to trust the process and allow ourselves to be on that journey and not, you know, resist coming back into the good times just for fear that they might be lost.
00:25:34 Shreya: Yeah, that's, that's really beautiful. And thank you so much for sharing all this information with our audience and your experiences, your stories with us. And if after this, my listeners want to connect with you and want to learn more about you, about your work, then what's the best place to find you?
00:25:54 Julie Grimm: Yeah. My website is w w w dot spiritual dash spiritual studies dash institute dot com. And there I do actually have a free intuition workbook if somebody wants to get more connected to their intuition. I've also written a book called about Faith, which for me, maybe to your point, it's about those small sparks. So it's a, it's not the huge, massive faith process, but broken down into these small daily moments of having faith within our life. And that's an ebook that you can find on Amazon.
00:26:28 Shreya: Yes. And I will make sure to attach all these details and links below in the show notes so that the listeners can find them easily and get in touch with you. And thank you so much, Julie. I think this was the kind of conversation Soul Sparks was built for, like small, honest, right, in a quiet way. And for my listeners, especially the ones who feel a little dim today, I will leave you with this. You do not need a big breakthrough to come back to yourself. You just need one small spark. And the spark. Spark does not have to be loud to be real. Some of the most important moments of your life will arrive softly, almost in a whisper. Stay closely enough to yourself to hear them and we will meet you in the next one. Till then, do not forget to hit the follow button. Subscribe and feel free to share your thoughts because your ears deserve premium content. Thank you.
