I couldn’t help myself! Change in the House of Flies is one of my favourite songs by the Deftones.

And if the mere mention of it makes you want to listen this is for you:

 

I watched you change
Into a fly
I looked away
You’re on fire
I watched a change in you
It’s like you never had wings
And you feel so alive

While the song’s tone and the overall theme is dark and seems to have nothing to do with wellness, I cannot help but note the relation of feeling alive to being on fire. This begs the question:

Why do we associate life with fire and burning? 

Vehemence, one of the themes of this diatribe, is a passionately driven action, also associated with fire and burning. When I call upon the sensation of passion it does feel somewhat like a burning or charging, like a battery charged,  a renewed sense of energy, and consequently, aliveness.

Passion is the revival of the dullness of a drained or devolved self, but a full charge lasts only moments before it begins to descend back:  toward the dullness from whence it came.

As the quote from John O’Donohue suggests, change is not found in the flame of the moment but is rather the result of a slow burning progress, fueled by the choices we make.

Passion is but one element of this change as discernment and integrity are just as vital, and must have their equal share.