Comments on: Reschooling Tool #20: Ritual Bonfire

By: Thomas Beck

Thomas Beck — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:43:39 +0000

I’ve done the same thing. It was a liberating experience, watching all those old memories go up and dissipate in the atmosphere.

By: Gene

Gene — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:26:32 +0000

The orange flames licked the corners of the pages and curled up the edges. They began to crumble into black ash.

Yours and Gill’s entries about this experience was awesome, and those two sentences brought it to another level. Beautiful wording. I got goosebumps that was so good.

By: Melia

Melia — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:04:36 +0000

Loved your post. (Check it out at http://no-dowry.com/2009/04/02/therapy-through-pyromania/) You captured the awesomeness of burning up old identities and painful experiences. SO much better than recycling. Let’s definitely make the bonfire a regular event. I’m already looking forward to our next one.

By: Gilliebean

Gilliebean — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:57:27 +0000

I love this post. In fact, I quoted you in the post I just wrote about the experience. It felt so good to get rid of that old baggage. I think we should have a bonfire at least once every couple years to clean out the past and move forward.

By: No Dowry » Blog Archive » Therapy Through Pyromania

No Dowry » Blog Archive » Therapy Through Pyromania — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:04:22 +0000

[...] wrote a blog post about our fire, and she captured very eloquently how I felt about our [...]

By: Melia

Melia — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:04:58 +0000

Margaret just advised me that “the basketball team goes by Celtics, but the people like to be called Celts in history books, re: your last post.” Haha! In my head I was pronouncing it with a hard C; didn’t even think of the team. Changed it.

Stephen, there’s definitely something hypnotic about fires that encourage people to stare at them quietly, or to divulge things about themselves that they wouldn’t otherwise. Every time I’m around a campfire, I’m surprised by what I learn about people. I like your visualization. I sometimes do that through breathing: in with the good energy, out with the bad.

By: Mr. Hsu

Mr. Hsu — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:03:18 +0000

First off, AMAZING shirt. Simply Amazing.
Secondly, this post is so inspiring. There’s something so mysterious, so alluring about a fire burning, whether a giant bonfire or the small flame of a candle. For me, fires have especially symbolized a sense of unity and individuality at the same time, so I like how you and Gill made it a shared yet unique experience. I think we all have things about our pasts that we could cleanse; for me it’s nothing tangible that could be burned with a fire, so instead I will let them go by “burning” them inside my head. I hope that visualization can help me progress forward.

Thank you!