Soul On Fire

I came across this quote attributed to Jennifer Lee: “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”

To me, “soul on fire” is a figurative phrase for “passion”.

Over the summer, I conducted contributor interviews in preparation to promote InScribe’s newest anthology CREATIVITY & CHAOS: ARTISTIC ENDEAVOURS FOR TRYING TIMES. Over and over I heard the phrase, “I can’t NOT write,” or, “I’ve always been a writer.” I get it, because I feel the same way. Writing sets my soul on fire and it seems it does the same for many others.

One poet even spoke of a physical “Hum” she experienced while composing a poem—an almost euphoric state brought on by the creative process. If that’s not a soul on fire, I don’t know what is!

I was also interested to hear the various forms of writing that each person gravitated toward. Even people who primarily write in one genre often use another form as an outlet or as therapy. Poetry and journaling are high on the list, even among non-poets, but others talked about blogging, devotionals, journalism, speeches, and even writing sermons. One person writes short descriptive pieces about nature for a real estate magazine, while another talked about speaking at “Celebrations of Life” as her sweet spot. Wow! I was honestly blown away by the depth and breadth of this writing community!

Inevitably, we also talked about other creative pursuits, and again, I was astounded by the variety. While writing was high on the list, most people have other passions, too. Painting, watercolours, sketching, and other traditional visual art forms were prevalent. Music—listening, playing an instrument, singing, leading worship—were also common. Add scrapbooking, sewing, baking, gardening, making “junk journals” (which are anything but junky!), woodworking, remodeling & renovating, making models… The list goes on! Two of the most unique that I came across (at least in my mind) were building with Lego and voice acting/audio mixing. What a creative group!

Of course, it was also evident through our conversations that a “soul on fire” also has a spiritual side. As followers of Jesus, that is the ultimate passion in this life!

I invite you to enjoy a song by Third Day, one of our household’s favourite Christian bands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7lv9oMjv_0

This post was originally published In July of 2024 at InScribe Writers’ Online Blog.