What's your fire?

I just finished reading this book...."Saving CeeCee Honeycutt", by Beth Hoffman. 

 

I really enjoyed it, and I wanted to share a few bits of the book that made me think....

This one is kind of long, but hang with me....it'll be worth it.

To set the scene...Aunt Tootie takes CeeCee to an old house that was almost torn down, and this takes place in Savannah, GA, so you can imagine the house..... 

     When we descended the back stairway, dried bug carcasses crunched beneath our feet.  "It sounds like we're walking on Rice Krispies," I said.  And my aunt laughed.

     Just as I thought we were going to leave, Aunt Tootie stopped in the hallway and closed her eyes.  "Oh, Cecelia, isn't it a wonder?"  she said with a look of ecstasy on her face.  "this house is alive with history.  I can feel it humming through the soles of my shoes."

     I looked down at the floor and waited.  But I didn't feel anything.

     "All right,"  she said, guiding me out the door, "Let's go home."

     As we headed to the car, I looked up at her.  "You sure do love saving old houses."

     "Oh yes,  I do.  It's my fire."

     "Your fire?"

     She glanced over her shoulder at the house, which was now bathed in a warm tint of yellow from the sun.  "Yes.  Everyone needs to find the one thing that brings out her passion.  It's what we do and share with the world that matters.  I believe it's important that we leave our communities in better shape than we found them.

     "Cecelia Rose, she said, reaching for my hand, "far too many people die with a heart that's gone flat with indifference, and it surely must be a terrible way to go.  Life will offer us amazing opportunities, but we've got to be wide-awake to recognize them."

     She rested her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.  "If there's one thing I'd like most for you, it's that you'll find your calling in life.  That's where true happiness and purpose lies.  Whether it's taking care of abandoned animals, saving old houses from the wreckin' ball, or reading to the blind, you've got to find your fire, sugar.  You'll never be fulfilled if you don't."

     I thought about what she said, and as we climbed in to the car I looked at her thoughtfully.  "But how will I know what my fire is?"

     She pulled the keys from her handbag and started the engine, "Oh, you'll know.  One day you'll do something, see something, or get an idea that seems to pop up from nowhere.  And you'll feel a kind of stirring---like a warm flicker inside your chest.  When that happens, whatever you do, don't ignore it.  Open your mind and explore the idea.  Fan your flame.  And when you do, you'll have found it.".....

So I ask...what's your fire?

Cindy Bee