✨Even Beautiful Ships Can Sink: A Burn Bright Story (019)

What the Vasa Taught Me (About Us)

Standing in front of the Vasa in Stockholm, I was struck silent.

This warship was meant to be a show of Swedish strength.

• Towering.

• Ornate.

• Unmissable.
  

• But it sailed just 1,300 metres before tipping and sinking.

Too much weight.
Too little balance.
Too many voices overriding the ones who actually knew what the ship needed.

As I walked around her—towering, delicate, preserved—I didn’t just see a ship.

I saw a person.

And as I stood there, I realised:
I’ve worked with—and been—this ship.

Because ships are like people.
They carry stories.
They’re shaped by hands, not always their own.
They can be celebrated, overburdened, and underestimated.
And sometimes, they break before they even get a chance to show what they were truly capable of.

Are You the Vasa?

At some point, many of us are:

• Decorated with titles, roles, and responsibilities we didn’t ask for

• Expected to launch before we’ve had time to stabilize

• Rewarded for performance, not for sustainability

• Tipping under the weight of ambition, approval, and pressure

We sail anyway. Because we think we have to.

Until something gives.

The Shift: From Shipwreck to Strength

The Vasa was lost beneath the sea for 333 years, then salvaged with care.

Today, the restored ship is the centerpiece of Vasamuseet in Stockholm. It has much to teach about history, naval architecture, project management, and human nature.

Her story is a lesson in what happens when we value appearance over balance, pressure over wisdom, and deadlines over stability.

It’s also reminding me—and maybe you—that even if you've sunk, even if you feel like you're underwater...

You’re not lost. You’re just waiting to be raised.

You don’t have to wait that long to recover your spark.

You were never the failure.
But like the Vasa, you might be overdue for a redesign.

THIS WEEKEND’S ACTION: ASK YOURSELF

Imagine yourself as a ship.

Ask yourself:

• What extra weight am I carrying that I didn’t choose?

• What early signs of instability have I ignored?

• Where am I trying to impress, instead of reinforcing?

• Who’s guiding my course—and does it feel right?

Your spark is powerful.

But burning bright starts with balancing right.

✨CLOSING WITH KINDNESS

Have you ever felt like the Vasa—launched too soon, too full, too fast?

Hit reply and tell me.
Your story could be the ballast someone else needs this week.

To your spark,
Mary