Fire in the Belly

I'm talking about the fire of intentionality! Fire in the Belly! It provides meaning and purpose and gives us direction for our actions, including what we Stop action-ing. It is part of what makes living a vital experience, instead of something we hope to get through.

I was "talking" (emailing with) Mindy Guthrie a week or so ago about this very issue. She understood the term immediately and is in that part of her life where living out the social protocols has been accomplished, and in her case, Well Accomplished! She last had the experience of Fire in the Belly when she did the More To Life course, Living YES, last year. Putting the experience and frame for the experience together solidified something for her; it made it easier for her to focus the rest of her life through that lense. She was telling me that there were things she wanted to do that fueled the fire in her belly, and the limits she planned to implement on things that dimmed that fire. It's so very humbling and exciting to be around someone with fire in their belly. Thank you, Mindy!

And it's not about being a zealot, quite the opposite. A zealot has no room for differing opinions. Zealots tend to be 'against' something. 

Someone with fire in their belly is 'for' something - a mission to accomplish, willing to entertain the possibility of other opinions that might support accomplishing the goal. It is not egotistical at all. It's aimed at a bigger picture, usually very compelling. Martin Luther King and Dr. Brad Brown come to mind.

As a member of the US Board of Directors for the Kairos More To Life Foundation and as a member of the Houston Steering Committee for the same organization, I am surrounded by people with Fire in the Belly. It's easier to re-light the fire when surrounded by these people. (My fire has dimmed many times, usually when I was out of alignment with myself, sometimes because of ego-investment. Duh!)

The top left pic is Mindy Guthrie, the pic on the right is Mindy at Living Yes!

PS Houston is hosting "Lighting the Fire Within" in March 2012. Check it out. It's been 10 years or so since we last had this course in Houston. Call Mari for more info (713-838-1100).

 

 

 

Comments

[Shafinaaz Hassim]

Dear Ann
After doing the More to Life course in 2009 here in Johannesburg, SA, I discovered your blog and added it to my list of blogs; and so I receive regular updates. Today, when the title of this post showed up, I held my breath a second. Fire in the belly. What have these words come to mean in the last few months; let me try to put this into a short few words. As part of my work in biographical narrative, and as an indie publisher, I invited short stories from activists and academics and poets and in Sept 2011 an anthology was born, called 'Belly of Fire: an anthology of hope, forgiveness, redemption and reawakening.'
The stories deal with child abuse, mutilation, war, poverty, grief, domestic violence, hope, etc. The title takes as metaphor, the fire of anxiety and the resultant loss of voice experienced by individuals in varied situations depicted therein. Technical and fiction writers have written in fictional form, and debates rage on.
I apologise, as this is not a plug for the book (I wont mention more)Suffice to say, on Dec 15th a dear friend of mine was in a car crash, and the seatbelt cut into her abdomen, rupturing 3 intestines. After 5 weeks in ICU, she passed away on Saturday 21st. I just discovered a pic of us taken at one of the launches of Belly of Fire, with the poster in the background: the words that stand out from the way we're positioned are: Belly of Fire/forgiveness/awakening.
For some reason, words and intentions and life, resound in retrospect.
Many thanks, kind regards.

[Ann Mc]

you are most welcome. I am coming to S.Africa this July/August for the round of trainings that happen during that time. So hopefully we can connect in person ....

appreciating your synergy with Fire in the Belly, and Belly of Fire!

am