The Courage Fire
Fanning the flames of life
Hello Hedge Schoolers,
This week's inquiry is born out of a stark personal reality that my wife is moving through at the moment. Her mother, a beautiful delicate Scottish soul, is recovering from her third bout of cancer surgery. As it stands, she has had part of her lung removed, one kidney and for this particular surgery, part of her liver and her gallbladder. The type of cancer she has is a terrifyingly relentless bastard with which surgery is the only means of escape. And she is fast running out of organs to give up. The chase is on. And she is braving the many, many hospital stints and fighting the good fight. But the reality is that it may catch up anytime soon. This episode is dedicated to her tremendous Glasgow fighting spirit.
Deathbed regrets
Facing the end of the life that has been gifted to you, what would be your deathbed regrets? It's a morbid conversation. A dialogue that Western society has quite a lot of difficulty with.
But we are all going to die.
Death in physical form that is. Personally, I live into the magic that we are born into death.
New. Alive. Alight.
But for many, the physical life that we live now is spent hiding from the opportunities we yearn for. Moments lost in time to fear and constructs of what we perceive we are capable of.
Alive is a life lived in full radiance. In full rapture.
Playing full out means that when we face our transition to the beyond, we leave with no regrets.
To do this needs courage. Courage to make real the dreams and yearnings we have for ourselves. And courage is a gentle fire that needs stoking.
Courage kindling
In Crossing the Unknown Sea, David Whyte unpacks the origin of the word courage. I am fascinated with language origins. The origin of courage is 'cuer', which is French for heart.
Courage begins in the heart. It is the fire at the heart of our desires.
In its infancy, it is fragile. When we start a fire, we begin with kindling. Small in stature. Gentle. Fragile. We nurture it with life air, knowing it could blow out at any time. But with this gentle air and delicate touch, we breathe fire alive. Until it is a smoldering power.
Courage is the same. Our kindling (small steps) combined with gentle air (support) and touch (action), breathes alive our courage.
But the truth is that it could go out at any time.
But we can also fan the flames and create the most transformative energy.
For those amongst who feel that their courage flames have been snuffed, what is your kindling? What breathes life into you?
For one, the crucible or container in which the fire is set in plays a part. Take care to create containers that will support your early courage. Find the spaces where your courage fire can be gently brought to smoldering power.
Who or what breathes life into you? This may be a wise guide. A community. An experience. Support your early fire with the right air. Seek out those who fan your flames. Make real your heartfelt desires by involving them and allowing them to temper your courageous fire.
For deathbed regrets are fires doused by our own limiting beliefs.
Flame alive the life you have.
Move beyond missed moments and second-guessing.
To the warmth of a life lived from the heart.
You won’t regret it.
A poetic tribute to your courageous flame
To be seen is to be born.
Born again in erupted splendour.
Held in the gaze of those who wade past the brambles that you've planted.
To the hiding place
where your soul is singing the song you were born to sing.
From my courageous heart to yours,
Steve