What Lights Your Fire
Do you know how to access your realm of enchantment?
I may sound as if I’m on a unicorn riding into the Utopian sunset. But, when you do experience that realm of enchantment, the feeling more closely resembles that of Phoenix (your spirit) rising from the ashes (all that was) with renewed youth (raw vibrant energy).
Forgive me if I’m waxing too poetic, but I feel strongly about this, and delving into imagery can make the meaning more immediate – heard about a picture painting a thousand words?
There’s a raw energy in life which I hesitate to call passion because the word (along with ‘awesome’!) has suffered from the plight of over-use which in turn robs it of its full impact. Here, I’m talking about a fun-type of passion, not necessarily the type that holds the key to your purpose in life.
A few of the definitions of passion give you an indication of the gradation of this force:
eager interest in; enthusiastic enjoyment; strong attraction;
excitement; and barely controllable emotion
And now for enchantment:
a feeling of pleasure and delight or being under a spell
We often see this word in children’s stories, where the intrigue of magic enthrals young minds, where in the absence of seriousness, possibilities are limitless.
They are closely intertwined, but the one thrives in the other.
Children show us how natural it is to be in the realm of enchantment, where riding the waves of rapture is inherent in their beings. They are not taught to do this.
[My mental funny bone has just been struck by the notion of a classroom of children being taught ‘how to be rapturous’!]
But funnies aside, the point is that raw vibrant energy resides within you – a force that, when allowed, fuels momentum to create, unhindered by doubt, lack of self-confidence or society’s limiting conditioning.
It’s the essence of living
And the place that encourages you to tap into and unleash this energy is your realm of enchantment.
I say ‘encourages’ as it is always within you, for you to draw out – but, as with the germination of any seed, a conducive and fertile environment helps it to flourish.
I cannot tell you where your realm is or what your fun is, other than to say it’s an activity or place where you feel unbounded by limits. And at the risk of ‘waxing’ again, it’s when and where you feel your spirit is soaring and unstoppable. It may be in the heart of a forest, or skiing, singing, baking, surfing, dancing, listening to your favourite song or music, or when absorbed in interesting conversation and so on.
The more you do this activity, the more you stoke the fire within you. How does this happen? When you experience a degree of elation, you melt those areas of rigidity and tension – self-conscious areas that are frozen by fear-fuelled thoughts which make progress and success, often dependent on risk-taking, very difficult if not impossible.
The elation or fire derived from well-liked fun makes uncertainty and risks feel doable.
In this space your worries don’t carry the same gravity, as negativity fails to gain traction in the lightness of fun.
Fun, enchantment and passion are necessary prerequisites to the longevity of your productivity, enabling you to reach beyond the self with meaningful contribution to the bigger picture.
So, as the saying goes, what lights your fire?
Where’s the fun in your life and how often do you indulge in it? The importance and necessity of unleashing and exercising your fun muscle may not be as obvious or as touted as much as exercising your physical muscles or brain, but that shouldn’t underplay its value – especially now where developmental trends in many sectors of life do little more than mire attention in the swamps of seriousness.
If you’re not sure what your fun is, try to recall those times when you felt exceedingly carefree, or where smiling and laughter were irrepressible, where time flew….
As author Will Thomas says, “There’s no fear when you’re having fun.”
Combine that thought with the following: all your feelings are derived from either love or fear. We live in a polarised world, as in day and night; heavy and light etc. And so too do our feelings fall into the two polarised camps of Love or Fear, as for example anxiety (fear) vs appreciation (love). Opposites are necessary for contrast but of course it’s not always pleasant.
And to end, I’ll leave you with a few pearls of wisdom from stem cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief, Bruce Lipton Ph.D.
“How do you share your love?
Interestingly, when “love” comes into one’s life, be it love of a person, an animal, art form, gardening or even baking a pie, the experience engages a state of mindfulness.
People stop playing their subconscious programs and start manifesting their conscious mind’s wishes and desires. They begin to experience life as Heaven-on-Earth.
Remember Our Connection to Earth and Spirit…as well as the Power of Love.”
So to help favour the love side of the poles, go and DO FUN – it’s a doing thing!