Two years ago, I realized I could not light a fire and decided I should know how. It couldn’t be hard -- they say it only takes a spark to get a fire going.
I’d watched many people start fires. I’d gathered the kindling and wood for them. But I’d never placed the logs. I’d never lit the match.
After watching a YouTube video, I decided I knew enough. I began laying paper, sticks, and wood together. Saying a prayer, I lit the match. A flame took hold. Ambitious, I added wood. And the fire died.
Realizing I smothered it, I decided to be patient. This fire would take way more than a spark. Eventually it started, after my husband walked me through the proper steps.
So, I practiced lighting fires. Mostly they died because I cut corners. Couldn’t I start a fire with just about anything? I figured there’s an art to making a fire, and I wanted to experiment with that art.
However, making a fire involves science too. It takes oxygen and heat in a proper environment -- but I didn’t want that to apply to me.
Accepting the science, I can now light a fire by following the proper procedure, without short cuts, using the right components. Without them, my fires die.
There is an art and a science to most things. When we balance that art and science, we can create amazing things. Both are necessary and both are important.
I’m Elsa Glover, and that’s my perspective.