The ‘Fire’ Gremlin
C R E A T I V E . F I R E
SO. Back to fire. The process of fire building can easily be translated into our own transformation. Starting the fire, stoking the fire, fanning the flames - these are all really useful concepts to translate into our creative fire and our renewal.
The beauty is that fire is the perfect metaphor for our creative process. It can be raging or gentle, it can burn up or burn out. We need to provide it with fuel, room to grow and care to it. Like our creativity, once big enough, the fire brings people to gather around it; it’s a light, it gives warmth, it attracts attention and is a weapon.
The inner fire burns up all of the wounds, the scars, the pain, and transforms it into light and warmth. The outer fire brings people together, cooks our food, and is the centre point of communion and celebration. Like creativity, the fire represents the spiritual and practical, and like creativity the fire can harm us or care for us. Hence, Gremlins must master the fire.
R U N . I N T O . T H E . F I R E
Fire. Transformative. The imagination in combustion. The alchemists tool to purify metals and the arsonists drug to burn his baggage. Fire has been chasing me these months. Behind the scenes, whilst I’ve been writing to you about real life gremlins, there’s been an invisible Gremlin that’s been asking my attention. Constantly. She’s called fire and she likes me to play with her, but only on her terms and only when she feels ready.
It began as an innocent inquiry - playing with my natural instincts. My inner dialogue went something like “hm I’ve always liked fire, I love the heat of the sun, I love to be next to a fireplace, dragons are cool, I’m from the desert etc.” And what started as a curiosity became a chase - fire chasing me, me chasing her.
It’s become a useful vision that I want to share with you because with New Years there is a collective intention to ‘reinvent’. To give up old habits, take up new, and become a version of us that is closer to our higher selves. “This year will be different” we say. Even though every month, week and day are opportunities to start a-new, the collective momentum helps.
“The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves.”
P. S. We’ve all heard of the concept “fighting fire with fire” or the phrase back fire? It comes from Shakespeare - the word ‘fight’ was added later. It means to fight the same way your opponent is fighting but with with a cooler head. In 19th century America, it was common to deliberately start a fire to stop a fire that was already raging out of control. The "back-fire" as it was known, would stop the larger, original fire.
Just sharing that concept so that next time the anger rages inside, you can light a safer, bigger creative fire outside. The fire lessons are endless but I shall stop.
Till next time you beautiful beast.
K X
