Is It Fire or Passion?

Recently I was asked;

"If you could define your writing career in terms of one of the stages of fire, which would it be and why?"

To answer this question I must first give my definition of fire.

To the masses fire is a primary earth element. To me, fire is passion—unmitigated, unwavering, unapologetic.

I know little about the systematic stages of fire, but know much about the essential theories of passion.

PASSION IS ...

A powerful or compelling emotion or feeling such as love or hate.

The object of fondness or desire.

A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for something or someone.

Zeal for something that is perceived at attractive.

Passion can be directed to anyone or anything.

Passion, too, comes in levels or stages.

The Inception

The Consummation, and

The Culmination

Like a match striking against a matchbox, a bonfire in full blaze, and the ashes blown asunder by the wind, passion and fire are kin.

Please pull up a seat and join me in this enterprise to discover what stage of fire best depicts me.

I have always been of a different sort. No two people receive me the same way. This I have become accustomed to. As luck would eventually have it, it was in that that I discovered my fervor.

Interesting Fact:

Before I could openly admit my gender preference it was much easier to voice my other sexual preference ... intelligence. 

I have always identified as sapiozexual even before I could admit that I was also homosexual.

The paradox here was that it was my intelligence that made me the misfit. 

I mention this because it is a relevant part of my story.

Let us look at The Inception:

As a child, I wrote myriad short stories. It was my favorite thing in the world to do. They were for my own amusement and I reveled in them. These were not stories that I could openly share with anyone because, as I understood it, most would not comprehend my tales.

It was not until my adult years when I finally endeavored to reach the masses. When given the opportunity to join All Authors I was vivified. This, I knew, would be the beginning of the realizations of my passions.

The spark to want to create was always part of who I was.

I find that Inception is also intrapersonal nature; it has to be born of oneself first.

Then came The Consummation:

When that door was opened to me, the words began to flow. Like water atop a stone, they poured out of me. Lucidly, naturally, and gratifyingly so. I was entirely engrossed in the process. Covered from head to toes in the exhilaration that it imparted.

This very much was the blaze of passion. The rampant and incandescent flames  of doing what one loves to do and being enthralled by it completely. No regrets, no insecurities.

Finally, t'was The Culmination:

So many see the culmination as a negative thing. I cannot agree. To me, the culmination is just a door that was always meant to be closed making way for another to open.

Writing the words "the end" is not actually the end. It is the beginning of the next project. Nor does the end of a project imply the end of your career or your passion. These, you see, cannot be extinguished.

Ashes are only ashes because they can once again become fire.

Round and round Fire's Circle of Life goes.

Spark to Fire, Fire to Ashes, Ashes to Spark, and so on.

This truth has also been my experience. My writing career has been, without doubt, all the stages of fire. You see, they are all imperative for the overall blaze and/or passions to sustain.

My fire is the passion that carries me. The passion that carries me is my inner fire.

Adonis Mann