Setting Your Soul on Fire

Have you ever felt so passionate about something that it feels like your body is on fire? That words are being pulled from your heart the second you start talking about it? They bubble up your throat, leaving a sugary coating on your tongue and a fuzzy feeling in your head? It’s like you're so unbelievably encapsulated by this one topic that everything seems brighter?

This might seem like something crazy, achievable even. But, this is how I feel every time I talk about architecture, or books, or about issues facing teachers and agriculture. All of this seemingly pulls itself from my heart when I find someone willing to listen. It sends electricity to my fingers, pulling my hands in a million directions, just so I can fully convey the white hot excitement it causes. 

Now, this feeling hasn’t always been there. It hasn’t always shown up when I talked about something I liked. Very rarely would I feel that, especially in high school. You see, I continually bogged myself down with things I merely liked, or found slight interest in… and I got burned out. I hated showing up to meetings, I refrained from making friends solely because I hated the club. I pushed off doing work that was critical to the events I signed up for. 

I completely lost myself.

Then, somehow, it showed up. This burning feeling rose from my toes to the top of my head every time a new issue facing educators came up. It exploded when I learned about Roman Architecture and art. It was a fire. 

A fire that shed light on who I was. Who I wanted to be. What I wanted to do. 

This fire lit up my soul. The world was bright again. Laughter started to sound like music. I appreciated the hustle of the city, the curvy roads of my hometown. I appreciated life again. 

I continuously find myself talking to anyone and everyone that is willing to sit and listen, going on and on with a smile so large that my cheeks hurt when I finally stop. 

We have things that we like. That we are merely interested in doing. Then we have these things that truly manage to set our soul on fire, they manage to restore life, bring the person we have always wanted to be to the surface.

So, what is something that truly sets your soul on fire? What brings that white hot fire to your entire body? What challenges your mind, and at the same time, softens your heart when you talk about it?

Find it. Share it. Love it. Truly set your soul on fire.

And as always, keep being awesome,

Kourtney