Reflections on “Why”

August 21, 2023

Many of us ask why we don’t follow our heart’s desire. Our heart’s desire may be our unled life. It may be a need to paint, sculpt or climb mountains. It may be a desire to pilgrimage to another land, another culture. It may be to go on a vision quest. It may be to open up a bookstore or coffee shop.

Our heart’s desire may be to embrace another vocation. It may be to move to another place or another house. It may be to turn the backyard into a garden or a pond. It may be to take time off to read all the books you’ll never read before you go. It may be to meet a person you have always dreamed of meeting.

We desire it so much that we can taste it, but practicalities and limitations block us. We may try to dismiss our heart’s desires as frivolity, fluff or impossible dreams. But that doesn’t work. The burning desire continues and something vital to our being goes missing. When we can no longer ignore it, we experience it as a raging inferno.

Sam Keen, philosopher, and scholar, captured this idea in his classic work, Fire In The Belly (1991). Written at the height of the men’s movement, Keen advises his readers, male and female alike, to become fully whole, journey into consciousness and claim their authentic selves.

The fire is more than the life force. It is continuous internal combustion that, unless satisfied, will implode. Then we are left fearful, weak and empty. But allowing the fire in the belly to burn openly propels us with courage, strength and authenticity.

In the body center of intelligence, the fire is at the solar plexus, the element associated with the third chakra. Dropping into our heart and belly compels us to feel and do something about the fire. It is the fire of our soul.

Inquiry: Describe your fire after dropping into your heart and belly.

Dear God,

I pray for your divine breath to blow on my fire. Amen.

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