Like every life, mine has unfolded as a winding journey marked by growth and setback, shadowed by fear and doubt, with periods of hopelessness and bewilderment to then burst into inspiration. In and around all this have been long periods of stasis that I thought would never end. And now….

And now, it is a life of peace. I feel adrift on a sea of tranquility, the moonlight overhead enveloping me in its soft and gentle shroud. The battle is over, and I have won. 

For you see, I walked directly through the fire, walked barefoot over hot coals and continued walking until I came to the other side. I often wondered, not only if I would ever arrive on the other side, but more darkly, I entertained the thought that there might not even be another side to this fire. 

The other side does exist. I can say that now with certainty.

And what, you may ask, is this other side? It’s my soul; my soul and I working as a team. I have come home to myself. What a foolish exercise in insanity to be in fear of, or to actually run from the very home I’ve always longed to find.

You see, on that often arduous journey, I discovered that my soul and I together hold all I need. I have found what I love to do, what I have to give, and I spend my time doing just that, an infinite activity that showers effortlessly out to enrich those around me, which then comes back to enrich me. The blessing of this endeavour often arrests me in wonder. 

In this home of my soul, I sit by the hearth and spin myself into endless threads of silver and gold. Then, in exquisite joy, I weave those threads into the web of humanity and together we rejoice in the radiance of our creation. What else, but this, could life be? 

I watch the birds rise and fall as one in flight, each singing their own note in their symphony of movement. If one bird had not yet recognized his own individual song, could he join the symphony? I think not. 

I would walk through that fire, yet again, if that is what had to be done to find my note, my individual soul song, for there is no joy on Earth so great as being a part of the creation of humanity's symphony.

And I know that I will continue to give voice to my song, even beyond my death, for I have discovered that truly there is no end. Life is life, and as such it can never know death, or it would not be life. 

And so it is, that I urge you to find the other side of your own fire. Move blind if you must, but do not stop walking. The sunrise of your soul waits for you.