You Need To Burn Parts Of Yourself
But please don’t set yourself on fire because I said this.
Generally, we think forest fire is a bad thing. Well, obviously it can burn up the entire forest and everything might be gone the next day. That’s not good.
However, it’s equally bad if you don’t let forest fires happen. In fact, counterintuitively, it is necessary to keep the forest alive.
As the tree grows older, some of its branches are going to die, and the deadwoods are going to start to pile up on the ground. As those deadwoods begin to stack up, the risk of having a catastrophic fire that engulfs the entire forest goes up. So if you don’t intentionally burn away some of the deadwood, one day, even a small fire from a dying cigarette can set the whole forest on fire.
Interestingly many trees evolved to withstand fire to a certain degree of intensity. Some of them don’t even produce seeds if there was a fire recently. So with the right amount of fire at the right time, you can burn off the deadwood without burning up the entire forest.
This insight from nature can also be directly applied to human beings.
We always have deadwood within us: we lie to each other; we become ungrateful; we become arrogant.
We need to burn that deadwood before it’s too late.
But we avoid burning the parts of us that need to die. Partly because of the fear of burning ourselves entirely, but more because of the pain that is associated with the burnings. For example, we tend to avoid admitting our ignorance and mistakes because we burn our inadequate selves, metaphorically but also literally.
You can feel it — the heat, the discomfort, the resistance.
Your face turns beet red, as if the flames were licking at your skin.
Your heart feels as if a hot coal lodged in your chest, smoldering and removing parts of you that need to go.
No wonder people avoid it. People don’t want that pain.
But you must remember that if you let the deadwood pile up within yourself, one day, a small, unforeseen spark of fire will become uncontrollable. If there’s too much fire, you might not survive.
It’s always better to die partially than entirely.
Just like the forest, this controlled burn of our inadequate selves is necessary. As the flames die down, what’s left is fertile ground for new growth. By burning away the deadwood of lies, ingratitude, and arrogance, you make room for honesty, gratitude, and humility to flourish.
So, you must burn parts of you that need to die, and endure that burning pain for rebirth. It’s only through this continuous cycle of death and rebirth that revenuates us, just like the forest.
