Feeding the Soul with Fire

Spring is always an exciting time with buds, blossom and bird song. To add to that, it’s also the time when Steve unpacks our prized tarp for the first time since begrudgingly having to put it away at the end of last Autumn. He then spends time and great care putting it back up over our campfire, providing shelter and instantly creating an outdoor living space. A space that has meant so much to so many, and has become the heart of our events.

There's something about the campfire. There always has been. The way its warmth soothes the soul, calms the mind and creates space to ponder all those thoughts that aren't usually able to surface due to the constant distractions and demands on our time. The campfire somehow slows time down. It brings people together and holds space for them to be present with themselves and each other. And it provides light when the day gives way to the night.

The campfire never asks for anything. There are no demands or expectations from it and it's accepting of whether or not we choose to keep feeding it. Sometimes it’s big and hot and we have to move back, sometimes it burns through quickly ending up as a bed of embers, and sometimes it feels like the smoke is constantly following you around! Whichever it is, we get instant feedback from a campfire, a reminder that if something isn’t quite right with the situation then we can make a change: we can sit back, lean in, or move. We can make a choice. In this age of Chatbots and AI, I find this a healthy reminder.

A friend of ours calls campfires the original smart TV. I’ve lost count of the times that Steve and I have spent time staring into the flames, lost in our own thoughts - still present with each other yet at the same time honouring our own and each other’s need for quiet. Often in life there are expectations to fill the gaps, to break the silence, to keep going and doing all the time, but with the campfire it gives focus and reminds us that from time to time it’s okay to slow down and stop.

Sometimes I think we’re losing the ability and the confidence to just stop. If we do stop what does that mean? Are we missing out on something? Should we be spending our time doing something more ‘valuable’, ‘constructive’, ‘rewarding’… insert your own chosen thought here_______. But what do we miss out on if we don’t find or allow ourselves that space to be present with our own thoughts? Those seeds of inspiration and those pearls of wisdom get buried and forgotten. Without the nurturing, the tending to, the love and attention those seeds of ideas won’t germinate. And then what will we miss out on? Who knows? Perhaps we’ll never know...

What we didn’t miss out on this month is two wonderful events. Sunday 13th April saw us welcome people to our first Feed the Soul Digital Wellbeing social event of the year and then the following Saturday (18th) was our Shared Earth volunteer day. A busy but life-affirming time for us. It was so nourishing sitting around the campfire sharing time with people without a device in sight.

We had a brilliant turn out to Shared Earth and achieved so much, enabling us to get closer to being ready to welcome people to camp on our little patch of land this year. As well as the more physical jobs, we also had a couple of volunteers spending time by the fire helping us achieve something I’d been wanting to do for ages but just never got round to do it: making our own firelighters. This was inspired by the book Forgotten Ways for Modern Days by Rachelle Blondel, which has many wonderful and simple ideas of things to make or do around the home and garden that are rewarding, and empower us with skills that used to be common place. In the book there is a section on making your own kindling wraps using finely chopped kindling wood or small dry sticks, dried herbs and grasses, tissue or newspaper, raffia twine and old candle stubs. Never wanting to throw anything away that may be useful, I had an ever-growing collection of candle stubs. I knew that one day I would have a use for them! I was delighted when a couple of our volunteers were up for melting the wax into a pot, cutting down and bundling up some dry birch twigs from around the land with oddments of twine and then dunking the bundles in the wax to make our own firelighters. This was special for a few reasons: the first being able to prove that it was worth holding onto all those candle ends! Secondly, being able to utilise twigs from the land and garden twine that had already been used for something and was now beyond its best. It’s a special feeling knowing we’re going from buying in eco firelighters to making our own, meaning we’re saving money and getting more life out of resources that we invested in and giving a sense of pride to those who made them knowing they are a part of building a closed loop system. We also see the firelighters as being a perfect on going project at our volunteers days – perfect for any rainy days or anyone wanting to come and volunteer and share time with us, but who are not feeling able to do a lot of physical work.

The volunteering part of Shared Earth came to an end as a bit pot of jack fruit chilli (as requested by our little boy) and mashed potato with fresh parsley from the land was served up round the fire where we and our volunteers sat until sleep beckoned.

Here's to next month!