I have always wondered why younger girls could never seem to get along. The hallmark word for it is drama, and we all know that middle school girls usually have more than their fair share of it. The root of this issue has always been a mystery to me until one phone call changed it all.
I was feeling really down one day, so my mom offered to call my friend’s mom for me, who was a life coach. She always had something about her that was so inspiring and full of fire. I ended the phone call with my entire mindset flipped upside down, and soon after, I realized that the something that made her so inspiring was special. I wondered who else had it, if I had it, and where to get it!
I coined a term for this quality, and I like to call it one’s fire. I developed the theory that everyone has a fire inside of them, some big and some small. Their fires represent how much they value, know, and love themselves.
So, to answer the million dollar question of why girls can never get along?
It’s honestly because our fires are often dangerously low. With so many standards and so little time to get to know ourselves, we never get a chance to build our fire. There are countless people that live their lives with extinguishers on hand because fire is scary! Knowing yourself is scary, but it doesn’t have to be.
The solution is simple: look inside yourself.
Know yourself before you attempt to understand others. Love yourself before anything else. This is the message I am trying to spread, and I hope it spreads like wildfire.
The minute I thought of this idea, my mind immediately wandered to my favorite place on earth, Camp Lantern Creek. Their core message is self-love and confidence, and I freaked out when I realized that their logo is a fire. It was meant to be.
Your Fire Project
I immediately contacted Piper, and we got right to developing Your Fire Project. We were going to make this happen. My first step was to create an Instagram. My account is called @yourfireproject, and people are welcomed and encouraged to send in photos of themselves holding up signs with words that describe their fires.
This year at camp, I am beginning the leadership program, and I am so excited to bring this Your Fire Project to the table. I am working to set up activities mainly for the children starting middle school to discover their fires. Some activities include making fire T-shirts and conducting smell/touch/taste tests to practice their instinct skills.
I continue to go to Camp Lantern Creek because it is truly an accepting place filled with people that will kindly take in my crazy ideas, like this one. I feel honored to be a part of the CLC family, and I hope to spread the flame all the way to far away places. If you would like to become a part of the movement, follow @yourfireproject on Instagram.
Maddie Holste will be a freshman next year and starting our leadership program this summer at Camp Lantern Creek. This will be her 5th year at camp.
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