tend to the flame
I woke yesterday to get a coffee and see the sunrise.
When I passed the beach on my way to get my coffee, I saw a bonfire pit overflowing with logs on fire. There were logs on the ground still aflame, and smoke billowing out into the cold morning air. I thought instantly- I need to tend to that fire.
So I pulled up my car and got out one of the small camping chairs I keep tucked in the emergency kit.
I set up my chair and began to clean up this fire.
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Breaking up bits of log to let the coals release their heat. I used other sticks and logs to pick up the burning ones, and corral them into the pit. And then I sat and waited until this blazing fire was merely smoldering.
It felt like such an obvious gift & metaphor for slowing down and tending to the flame within. I also felt this loud reminder, that life is far too short and fast- and sometimes we need to merely sit and enjoy the moment that has been made, just for us.
So that’s what I did. I tended to myself, and to this flame.
I thought about how fire can both create and destroy.
Like how crucial digestive fire is for digestion and vitality. Or how important a spark is for creating.
And in that same breath how catastrophically, destructive fire can be when not controlled or tended to.
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In herbalism we are often looking at this balancing of energetics. And this goes beyond the herbal energetics and into the balancing of the elements in nature that exist within us.
Just like we cool a hot/excited condition with herbs- we can look at where we are storing or bringing in too much fire in our lives and invite in other elements like earth that help to neutralize an “imbalance.”
I heard a teacher say recently that we are not necessarily trying to create balance and rather we are inviting in harmony. I really enjoyed that perspective shift.
Because this word “balance” can create the idea that we need to be perfectly in alignment to be in balance.
And the word “imbalance” might imply that something is wrong with us.
And that puts a lot of pressure on a state that is constantly fluctuating simply as a result of being human.
Whereas this word harmony invites in a peace and an ease that allows for more spaciousness and flow.
And so I’ve been asking myself-
what flame within me needs tending to,
and in contrast-
what flame needs cooling or more harmony?
How can I invite harmony into my life, and how can I harmonize the elements within me?
