Throughout many ancient legends, the phoenix is a symbolization of hope and restoration. It originated in Greek mythology but is known in many cultures as a symbol of rebirth and renewal. The story is that after a number of years, it builds a nest or pyre on which it sets itself on fire, and then is reborn again from the ashes. The phoenix is strongly associated with potential, resurrection, and a fresh start.
Healing isn’t linear. Like the phoenix, we cycle through the ups and downs of our journey, and it takes making it through the fire to truly experience transformation. A potter cannot complete his creation without putting it through the flames of the kiln where it is strengthened. Likewise, wildfires that sweep through struggling forestlands actually cause them to grow back healthier than before. Fire is a destructive force, but it is also cleansing, strengthening, and renewing. For us, to journey through the fire of life, of death, of renewal, is to heal as we go, taking it one step at a time. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it cannot be rushed. And most importantly, it must happen in life, not before life starts, because it is a large part of being. We cannot put life on hold while we heal.
“The goal is not to heal and then begin your life,” writes Yung Pueblo, author of Clarity and Connection. “The goal is to embrace healing as a life long journey and allow genuine connections to emerge organically along the way.”
So what does healing look like? It can look many different ways. For some of us the journey might be made up of big leaps of faith, and for others it may be small, steady steps – and for many of us it could be one or the other depending on the season. But the most important thing I have learned over the years is that when it comes to our journey through the fire, it doesn’t matter how slowly we go. What matters is that we don’t give up. That we keep moving forward.
Sometimes healing looks like taking very practical steps. Learning how to improve relationships (including your relationship with yourself), getting into physical exercise, journaling, and practicing self-care can all be very powerful ways of cultivating healing. And sometimes it looks like simply facing each day with your entire arsenal of coping skills. The important thing to remember is that healing looks different for everyone, and just because one person finds it in certain things doesn’t mean the next person will find it in the same places.
Oftentimes, healing involves introspection and learning how to be very honest with yourself. It doesn’t always feel good. But that does not mean you aren’t making progress. When healing involves learning how to be kind to ourselves, it includes acknowledging both our strengths and our weaknesses, our light and our darkness. You will always feel fractured as long as there are parts of yourself that you refuse to accept. Sometimes the most important journey of our lives begins when we decide to accept ourselves for who we are.
“The greatest journey I have taken so far,” writes Yung Pueblo, “is the one where I ended the alienation between me and all that I am, the one where I connected my light and my darkness, where I united what I wanted to know with what I did not want to face. Only through this union and truthfulness did I begin to feel at home within my own being.”
the fire journey 