Joe Cardamone
Contributor
Fire is the totem element for passion and desire. It’s what people refer to when discussing a great person or one who can push through adversity.
“You can see the fire in her eyes” or “there is a fire in his belly” are both common phrases when referencing such a person. Fire is good and its association is valid. The reason it’s a good analogy is because we make the connection without filtering the comparison and it’s still understood.
Photograph via Greg Rakozy
However, there is an additional element that fire needs to exist. It’s something not included in the actual flame but instead fuels it, oxygen. Oxygen is quiet, it’s soft, and it’s still, and powers the fire to burn like it does.
Using the stillness as the fuel to push through challenge or adversity is something that has been forgotten.
Being still within the fire of passion is not lauded above the actual flame of passion. The great speakers, athletes, and champions are not chaotic. Their actions are not as random or arbitrary as a wildfire. Though their lives may be tumultuous their focus is calm and it’s what gives their fire its purpose.
The soft stillness is the fuel for the fire. Focus, and be calm within that focus while everything around you burns. Harness the quiet you cannot see in order to fuel the passion you feel.
Photograph via Karina Carvalho
Learn to find this focus in yourself. Don’t praise passion and fire for its own sake but find the fuel that makes it burn hotter and longer.
The calm stillness of your focus should drive you.
I can’t tell you what that is your life, many times I miss seeing it in myself but I assure you it’s there.
Take time to locate your stillness. Harness it and use to fuel your passion.
More About Joe Cardamone: An actor, writer, husband, & father. Creating things. Co-Founder, writer, & actor @twelvesteed.