Introduction to Judy Brown’s “Fire”

It is the first full week of January. Most of you are returning to the classroom after time spent in the warmth of family and friends. Many of you will have made resolutions – looking to start the New Year on a new foot, to initiate new habits, leave old patterns behind, and to embrace new possibilities and challenges break away from bad habits, to start anew. It is a time, despite the cold of winter, of fresh starts and live possibilities.

While starting is easy, we all know that developing the steady, predictable patterns of change are often hard. As you face the promise and challenges of launching anew this year- we offer a week of “Fire.” It is a poem that speaks to our need for reflection, quiet, and space. It speaks to the importance of breathing, of reflection, and of time to think and plan.

Judy Sorum Brown’s poem, “Fire” appeared in both Teaching with Fire and Leading From Within. It is a favorite of teachers. A quick online search shows that people from all walks of life are drawn to it, such as “The Space between the logs” by meditation teacher Tara Brach.

In the poetry anthologies, the two reflections on “Fire” come from different perspectives and take from it different lessons and questions. In Teaching with Fire, Maggie Anderson, a middle school teacher, realizes that she was “piling on too many logs too tightly and the flame inside me was beginning to wane… even smolder at times. I was desperate for some “space.” In Leading from Within, head of school Becky van der Bogert, facing a dire prognosis, worries about letting go of “the need to do” – “what would my life be like if I didn’t have that fire that fuels my beliefs and these ‘doings’?”

Over the next five days, we will present Judy Sorum Brown’s poem, the two reflections from the poetry books, Judy’s own reflection on her poem, and a reading of “Fire” in English and Italian.  Many thanks to Judy for her beautiful poem and allowing us to share it in these multiple ways.

We hope these many iterations of “Fire” will give you warmth on these cold days, offer some inspiration, and help you weather the days ahead.  Please share your responses to the poems and these reflections – and share this “Week of Fire” (#teachingwithheart) with your colleagues.

Fire

What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.

So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel
together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.
 
—Judy Sorum Brown


Judy Sorum BrownJudy Brown picture

Judy Sorum Brown is an educator, speaker, facilitator, poet and writer whose work in organizations revolves around themes of leadership, change, learning, dialogue and creativity.  She helps organizations discover common ground even in the midst of dissension, turbulence and complexity and she characterizes herself as a “thinking partner” or “learning partner” although others think of her as a professor, public speaker, educator, and poet.

As a writer and poet, she is intrigued by the power of language and metaphor to shift our thinking and open us to new perspectives.  Her books include The Choice;  A Leader’s Guide to Reflective Practice;  The Art and Spirit of Leadership, and two collections of her poetry: The Sea Accepts All Rivers and Simple Gifts.  With eight colleagues, Flourishing Enterprise: The New Spirit of Business, released August 2014

We are fortunate to have several of Judy’s poems and a reflection in our poetry books:

Her poem “Fire” is in both Teaching with Fire and Leading from Within.

Her poem “Trough” is in Leading from Within.

Her poem “Hummingbirds asleep” with a reflection by Sandie Merriam and Judy’s reflection on Mark Nepo’s “The Appointment” is in Teaching with Heart.

For more on Judy Sorum Brown, her poems, books and other work, please see http://www.judysorumbrown.com/