fires, growth and gratitude

something josh mentioned to me recently
was floating around in my brain.

i have been loving the pine cones i'm finding under my trees this year.
i've been collecting them to put on my xmas tree.
in mentioning them recently, josh commented on there being pine cones
that need fire to germinate.

i remember hearing about that a long time ago.
and i nodded when he mentioned it, thinking it was interesting
and kinda cool.
forest fires aren't all bad.
in fact, they're needed.
some things can't grow until the fires come thru.
go figure.

somewhere along the line,
i got to thinking about the fires of life.
and i thought of those pine cones we had just talked about....

could it be the same?
took about a split second for me to nod to myself.
absolutely it could.

some things can't grow until the fires come thru.

i know for myself, i never woulda found a ton of stuff inside me
without having walked thru some fires.

fires aren't all bad.

i thought it was a cool thought.
and wanted to share.

that's it - my big thought -
fires aren't all bad.

i think it matters as we forget that and don't want them at any cost.
at least, that's how i work.
but life has fires.
it's part of the deal.
and in some ways, they're needed.
that's something i really want to sit with and think about.

i'll be snaggin' the next few days around here to concentrate
on being with my family.

i thought the fire thought would be a good thought to leave the blog with for a few days.

it goes with the gratitude -
because even in the pain, there is gold.

the whole dance of life - all of it -
is our gift.

it is with that in mind, i wish you a peaceful thanksgiving.