The Fire in Us

A companion post to Wonder & Wander, Episode 11

There's a difference between fire that warms and fire that burns.

I've known both.

When the Fire Got Away from Me

There have been seasons in my life where the anger I carried — born from old wounds, old stories, old pain — burned hot enough to do real damage.

And in some ways, it did. Not in dramatic, explosive ways. Quietly. I cut people out of my life — not as a choice, exactly, but as a response to pain I didn't know how to hold. There was no conversation. No confrontation. Just silence on my end. A slow disappearance.

I was frozen. And that freezing left marks — on relationships, on me. That pattern left me with regrets.

Learning to Tend It

When I look back on those seasons, I see something I didn't see then: the fire needed tending. Not smothering. Not ignoring. Tending.

There's a difference between a fire you manage and a fire that manages you.

That's an ongoing journey — for me, and I think for most of us. Some days the fire is steady and warm. Other days an unexpected gust hits it, and suddenly you're responding to something you thought you had under control.

The goal isn't to have it perfectly managed. The goal is to respond differently when the gust comes.

The Fire Is Worth Protecting

Passion is not the enemy. The desire to see things be better — for yourself, for your relationships, for the world — that's not something to put out.

It's something to learn to tend. The fire has power. A well tended fire has tremendous power for good. Conversely, a poorly tended fire can do some serious damage.

There's a reason this show uses a campfire as its anchor. A campfire is intentional. It gives warmth and light. It doesn't consume everything in its path. But it requires attention. It requires someone to tend it.

That someone is you.

A Question to Sit With

Where is your fire right now — burning steady, burning hot, or burning low? And what would it mean to tend it well in this season?

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Listen to Episode 11 of Wonder & Wander on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and follow the show so you never miss a conversation.