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“I used to work in dangerous places, and people who moved survived, and those that didn’t . . . Movement is life. Movement is life.”
— World War Z
There are times when it is crucial to stoke your inner fire, to summon as much energy as you can. In the ancient Yoga Aphorisms of Pantajali, it’s written, “Energy is like a muscle — it grows stronger through being used.” Depression (and so many people today are clinically or subclinically depressed) is largely a crisis of energy.
When the icy winds of depression blow across the landscape of your soul, get up and get moving! Summon your inner fire — the force keeping you alive. If you don’t feel the inner fire, act as if you did. Don’t allow yourself to become paralyzed. Don’t fall asleep in the snow. You can summon the fire by engaging in physical movement. Get up and do some physical work like cleaning the house — simple work that brings tangible results. The more resistance you feel to doing that work, the more sure you can be of transformation if you do it anyway. Will grows when you get yourself to do needed things you don’t feel like doing. Research shows that waiting to be motivated before taking action is a huge mistake. Take action when unmotivated, and motivation often follows as the work gains momentum.
When the inner fire glows, you can move toward intrinsically meaningful work. Meaningfulness blows on the fire, and the smoldering embers of your soul catch fire as the temperature of meaningfulness rises. But practical accomplishment, no matter how mundane, is also valuable. Cleaning and ordering your living or work space builds morale.
Eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and not poisoning yourself with smoke, pills, inferior foods, and toxic relationships are crucial for stoking the fire.
In the photo, the fire grows as Michael blows on it through a narrow copper pipe, the end near the fire partly flattened to focus the airflow. Focus builds fire. Pick your target and hit it. If you feel overwhelmed by lethargy or stress, begin with nearby, easy-to-hit targets ( e.g., dishes, laundry, house cleaning). Focus on the work immediately at hand, the rubber-meets-the-road plane of action. For example, focus on your posture and movement as you work with broom and dustpan, and do the work as gracefully and efficiently as possible. As the fire rises, you can bring your focus to more challenging tasks. Don’t let resistance — mechanical, bodily, interpersonal, financial, circumstantial — extinguish your fire. Use action against resistance to stoke the fire. Walking briskly on a cold day can raise more inner fire than walking at the same pace on a very warm day.
Yes, there are times to back off, times to relax, or even surrender. And fire can easily become focused on the wrong thing, on a dark obsession. Some focus all their fire on the hot pursuit of the hottie, and the results can be tragic. This card indicates a time that cannot be met passively or with your fire focused on illusions. This is a time to focus and intensify your fire on something (mundane or intrinsically meaningful) that needs work.
Consider this an auspicious time to stoke the fire by taking useful action.
Working with Focused Intensity
Writings in the Warrior category in the categories section of this site.
