F I R E :: a deep dive

how to be joyful, climbing on our thrones, following our hearts desire {Element Sessions} {audio version available}

Beauty & Bone is a warm, heart led community of fellow creatives writing and making in the gaps of our busy lives - join us for early morning writing sessions, inspiring ideas salons, bite-sized writing courses & vibrant podcast conversations.


Welcome to the FIRE spiral of the ELEMENT SESSIONS and the first of a series of three posts on the FIRE Element, which is the Element most closely associated with the SUMMER Season in Chinese Medicine.

Intro and upcoming dates

For those of you new to the ELEMENT Sessions, for each of the five Chinese seasons (there is a bonus season of Late Summer in between Summer and Autumn) I share with you all a deep dive exploration post, a live journalling call and a podcast conversation about that time of year. We look at the particular properties of that Element and explore how we can integrate them in to our lives (for my day job I work as a Five Element Acupuncturist!).

Each Element in the Chinese calendar has a peak time of year, during which its properties and powers are most prevalent. For the FIRE element, that season is Summer and by understanding the unique functions of this element we can enhance and nurture our own health and wellbeing.

To catch up on previous posts and podcast conversations, you can head here.
And here for your diary are the upcoming dates (note esp. the live journalling session date - I’ve been creating something a little bit different for this session - a really embodied session, which I’m excited to share!)

𓇸 ELEMENT SESSIONS : F I R E
Friday 16 May - DEEP DIVE EMAIL {free, with bonus material for paid subs}
Friday 23 May - FIRE Podcast interview with

The Harmony Principle

‘s Claire Dabreo {for all subscribers}
Monday 26 May - FIRE live journalling prompt call (10-11am BST, recording available) {paid subs}

Welcome to FIRE
B L O O M

rose blooming in my garden

This is the time of year when the young, newly birthed energy of the Spring (WOOD) season reaches maturity. Looking to nature we see that the seeds sown need to become blossoms; a tree needs to flower, then bear fruit if there is to be a harvest later in the year. In the same way it is so important for us to see and feel the fruits of our labours, important for things to come to fruition in some shape or form. When we are able to allow these heart-led seeds to grow and blossom, we often are able to feel more in tune with our surroundings - as within, so without.

Example:

Fellow writer

Ellen Chapman

shared in a recent post¹ about a sense of overwhelm and anxiety that often descended on her around this time of year - everything moving, growing, expanding too quickly, a sense of it feeling impossible to keep up. She went on to share how this year for the first time she has not felt the same level of dismay and she wondered whether the difference was her words :

I was feeling a need and a desire to write, but I was resisting it, so it felt painful to see the world around me not resisting, but joyfully bursting into life and growth. This year I’m writing (I might even dare to call myself a writer one of these days!) so perhaps I’m able to enjoy the season more because my inside world better matches the outside world. This year I’m also growing and putting out new leaves - I like the idea of thinking of these posts as each being a new leaf or flower, an offering.

This, to me, feels like the perfect example of the FIRE element blossoming. Ellen has followed her passion and her heart’s desire, and the manifestation of that in her life has been a more attuned sense of ease with her seasonal surroundings. I love that she also describes her writing as a new leaf or flower - her BLOOMS!

It is also worth noting here that it can be really, really hard to attune with the explosion of energy and outward momentum FIRE brings. Most of us are living lives where we are being asked to output almost constantly. We haven’t been dormant over winter in the same way many of the plants exploding in my garden right now have. To find MORE energy, to bloom and blossom at the push of a button can feel too much. If this is you I would say two simple things. 1. Maybe you need to take a step back and see how you can winter a little. Or sow your seeds. We can winter even in the height of summer. 2. Start super small. A bloom in your life might be a giggle, picking a daisy, hugging a friend. A bloom may be lying on your back in the grass.

MATURITY

Each of the Five Elements has a special power or capacity. FIRE’s power is that of maturity. Five Element Acupuncturist Neil Guminick writes²:

Before maturity we are dependent on others. In the springtime of our lives, we depend on our parents and peers for our survival and a sense of identity. Then as our powers blossom, we move to the next phase of the cycle. As Oscar Ichazo points out in his profound book, Between Metaphysics and Protoanalysis, "Maturity, of course, arrives in our lives when we become self-sufficient, when our identity becomes determined exclusively by ourselves."

Example:

I love thinking about this sense of maturity in terms of our lives as women. The idea that as we step into peri and then menopause we are reaching this wiser, more contained phase of our lives. A time, as one of my teachers used to say “to climb up on our thrones”. A time when we have the opportunity to reach levels of inner abundance and self-sufficiency that will enable us to determine our own paths, to follow our hearts desire. And also, and I think this is key to the FIRE’s gifts, be able to truly share with others in a completely open-hearted way, without expecting or needing anything in return.

WARMTH, LOVE & COMPASSION

Warmth, love, compassion and connection are all qualities of the FIRE element. The ability to both give and receive warmth. To be able to know when to be open and loving and when to be wise and protect our hearts and emotional selves. As Guminick writes

Summer's special gift - the energy of Fire - allows us to give and receive warmth. By giving and sharing, we build our own Fire, open our own flower, and bring more of the summer sun to the world.

Example:

What comes to mind here is what I’ve called ‘Glennon-Gate’! If you missed the whole blow-up, I won’t go into the drama here³, but in short, Glennon Doyle joined Substack, gathered a whole clatter of subscribers in a few short weeks and then promptly left, as a result, it seems of a bombardment of unkind comments and posts about how she arrived, how big she was, the threat she was to the rest of us.

This is a great example of the FIRE element out of balance. Instead of the generosity of connection and the sense that a ‘rising tide raises all ships’, many commentators were working from a place of insecurity and protection. Someone else blossoming threatened their own ability to blossom. When our FIRE element is out of whack, there is often a sense of sadness or emptiness (think of a cold hearth), and maybe seeing someone else’s FIRE burning so brightly just felt too much of a threat, reminded some of chilly places within. When in balance, FIRE’s superpower is an ability to connect and offer open-hearted warmth (think of a fire that draws people around it),

JOY

If we deny our happiness, resist satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.

-Jack Gilbert, A Brief for the Defense

This one is a biggie. Joy lies at the heart of the FIRE element and manifests within us as love, enthusiasm and laughter. It is what warms our hearts and brightens a room. It is so easy to say - be more joyful! but what does that actually mean, and how? Especially in a world in which so, so many are living lives so far from daily joy it is unimaginable. This is an area I’m really looking forward to exploring in more detail with Claire Dabreo for our FIRE podcast conversation (lands next Friday 19 May in your inboxes and wherever you listen to your podcasts).

How can we be joyful when others are not? How can we harness joy as an agent for change? Joy can be such a propulsive force. Music, dance, the erotic are all joyful energies for change which systems of oppression often censor and attempt to eradicate. Which signals, does it not, what powerful forces they are ! Joy is a manifestation of abundance, whereas the language of oppression is scarcity and fear... As Audre Lorde wrote⁴:

The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.

What Lorde is speaking to again is this ability of FIRE’s joy to bridge distances, to form transformative connections. For more on the idea of joy as an act of resistance, check out this fascinating article by Ingrid Fetell Lee which talks about joy as a way of creating unity, reclaiming humanity, manifesting abundance, disrupting expectations, promoting resilience and nurturing hope. I’m also looking forward to reading adrienne maree brown’s book Pleasure Activism which explores how joy is fundamental to sustainable societal transformation.

Here is a brilliant example of pure giggles and joy for you to enjoy ! :

Tips

How can you connect to this joy and blossoming that nature is showcasing right now?

Here are three simple, super effective ways to harness this sexy season :

{ If you’d like to upgrade to paid and access these top tips, plus lots more ELEMENT SESSIONS content, I’m currently offering a special offer of 30% off paid membership for one year, offer available until Sunday May 18th. My prices are going up on 01 June, so now is a great time to upgrade! }