Be the Campfire, Not the Forest Fire

Posted on December 24, 2012 by zoeweil

I’m traveling a lot this month, so please enjoy this repost from 11/17/10.

There’s a metaphor I like to use when talking to fellow activists. I ask them to imagine two fires. The first is a campfire in an opening in the woods. The fire is warm and bright and draws people toward it. They are eager to find a place around the fire, and their beautiful faces glow in the reflected light. They feel good. There is nowhere they’d rather be. The second is a forest fire. It blazes hot and out of control, everyone – people and animals alike – flees.

Each of us has a fire inside of us. It is the fire of our passions and our beliefs, and all of us who are activists know it well. It is the fire that spurs us to learn about what is happening on our planet — to people, animals, and the environment — and it is the fire that spurs us to action to solve the crises we face and challenge the atrocities that still pervade our world. It is often a blazing hot fire. And sometimes, when we have burned out, it is a barely glowing ember. (There is a reason for the term “burned out” after all.)

As change agents, we have a choice about what sort of fire we will be. Will we be the warm campfire that draws people towards us so that we can share what we know and inspire others to make a difference, or will we be the forest fire that rages too hot, causing people to run from us? This is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves because the fire we cultivate makes an enormous difference in our effectiveness as changemakers.

But as we know, fire is not static, so whatever fire you have been or are today is subject to change. Fires die out if we don’t add fuel, and the sparks that fly off of them can ignite infernos if we add too much fuel too quickly. As change agents, we must seek that perfect balance, adding enough fuel in the form of knowledge and resources to burn just hot enough to ignite change without igniting a conflagration. We will know if our fire needs more fuel if we are not doing the work that must be done and aren’t inspiring others to join us, and we will know if we need to let up on the fuel if people avoid us. If we’ve been activists for a long time, we may have noticed that our fiery youth has diminished too much. If we are new to changemaking, we may need to take great care in cultivating our fire so it doesn’t burn too hot.

Tend your fire carefully. The world needs you to burn just right.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxYouth@BFS “Educating for Freedom”

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73 Responses

  2. camdenstables, on January 15, 2013 at 8:20 am said:

    There are species of trees that require fire for germination. Sometimes a controlled burn is very beneficial.

  3. Tom McCollum, on January 15, 2013 at 8:24 am said:

    Loved your insight–thanks.

    Tom

  4. northernmalewhite, on January 15, 2013 at 8:26 am said:

    i like drinking beer around the fire. thanks.

  5. Marthafied, on January 15, 2013 at 9:04 am said:

    I love the term “change agents”. Your post gave me lots of food for thought. Excellent.

  6. rmk, on January 15, 2013 at 9:10 am said:

    Very good point. A lot of activists make the mistake of being too out there and then they just repel people. Very good way of putting that problem.

  7. shaiwalbhattacharya, on January 15, 2013 at 9:16 am said:

    Very beautifully written,in short we have to be the change we want to see in the world.And it completely depends on us what change we want to see.

  8. groovylove, on January 15, 2013 at 9:28 am said:

    I love your analogy of the two fires! It also makes me a little more conscious of who I am, and how others see me. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!

  9. 1 Story A Week, on January 15, 2013 at 9:35 am said:

    Wow. Well said.

  10. Soul Walker, on January 15, 2013 at 9:46 am said:

    Interesting analogy. I will have to give it some thought. Cheers.

  12. smadoy69, on January 15, 2013 at 10:10 am said:

    Reblogged this on sexwork.

  13. sawyerscup, on January 15, 2013 at 10:28 am said:

    Reblogged this on SAWYERS CUP and commented:
    Changemaker. What an interesting word. I have recently connected with this new found philosophy that I discovered on Zoe Weil’s blog. I don’t even know Zoe Weil but I want to know her. She inspired me with a post that she posted titled “Be the Campfire, Not the Forest Fire.” It’s a beautifully written and spoke to me on many levels.

  14. candidkay, on January 15, 2013 at 10:46 am said:

    Oh so wise. A lesson I’ve learned with age. If only I’d had you way back when to save me the trouble. But would your wisdom have fallen on deaf ears then? Perhaps:)

  15. Blue Bells, on January 15, 2013 at 11:35 am said:

    Dead on and brilliant!!

  16. Ajay Kaul, on January 15, 2013 at 11:43 am said:

    Well written and inspiring – this applies to all walks of life – including the corporate world. Thanks for posting!!

  17. Lee-Ann, on January 15, 2013 at 12:03 pm said:

    Inspirational, and beautifully put!

  18. ravenvinnie, on January 15, 2013 at 12:20 pm said:

    That was a really good metaphor. I’ll remember this every time I make a major decision, feel a radical emotion about something, I’ll try to reflect on that. Thanks!

    -Raven Vinnie

    ravenvinnie.wordpress.com

  19. ANI M., on January 15, 2013 at 12:47 pm said:

    Well said! A lot of material to think about))) thanks)

  21. 5thingstodotoday, on January 15, 2013 at 1:24 pm said:

    Hello. Would you be interested in featuring on my blog http://www.5thingstodotoday.com? All you have to do is write five suggestions of inspiration. Include in your suggestions a link back to your blog. Please check out the blog and see the sort of things people have written about. The cost to you would be £10.00, which you can make through the donation button on the blog front page. It would be a way of you creating a back link to your blog and getting some more people visiting your blog. Thanks David.

  22. glimmerswimmer, on January 15, 2013 at 3:04 pm said:

    Very insightful. Thanks.

  23. Jeff Nguyen, on January 15, 2013 at 4:29 pm said:

    Fire provides warmth and light but it also purifies metals from impurities. Good article here.

  25. onderstand, on January 15, 2013 at 6:14 pm said:

    Good way to put it. There is a limit to everything. You pretty much told what needs to be done. Finding the right balance is the question. Future blog?lol just kidding that’s for us to figure out.

  26. sammykristenlau, on January 15, 2013 at 6:33 pm said:

    I couldn’t have said it better myself. Great job!

  27. jesswallbank, on January 15, 2013 at 6:39 pm said:

    Love your writing, it’s so inspiring!

  28. andy1076, on January 15, 2013 at 7:53 pm said:

    Wise and inspiring words, thank you :)

  29. Bev Herscovitch, on January 15, 2013 at 8:28 pm said:

    I thought this was beautiful and so wise. I’ve known too many people who are bitter, or too angry, and who just turn people off from their cause. Instead of engaging people in dialogue, they alienate them or make them feel belittled or stupid. An example: someone who says something that might be perceived as sexist, but they might not consider it that way. Instead of blowing up in their face, I think it would be better to ask them what they meant by their comment, if they thought it was appropriate, if they considered it might be hurtful and explain why. Lesson learned better that way!

  30. PiedType, on January 15, 2013 at 9:03 pm said:

    A beautiful and very apt metaphor. Something our representatives in Washington need to keep in mind.

  31. madmcil, on January 15, 2013 at 9:15 pm said:

    Reblogged this on My Thoughts and Thinkings and commented:
    this is a great metaphor. i think a lot of times, Christians are a forest fire. we try to force our beliefs instead of living an appealing lifestyle and drawing people in. i encourage you all to read this post with that thought in mind.
    xoxo
    Madeleine

  32. mikafry, on January 15, 2013 at 9:44 pm said:

    Humane education is new to me. So glad your post was Freshly Pressed so I could learn about it! Am thinking of taking one of the Institute’s online courses :)

  33. unpackedwriter, on January 15, 2013 at 9:47 pm said:

    Yes. Great analogy. Thank you for the work you do. -Renee

  34. Nanoladoo, on January 15, 2013 at 11:01 pm said:

    Thank you for such wonderful post. You are right. There is a word ‘moderation’, and we should always remember that before tending our inner fire to get things right.

  35. elliotclaire, on January 16, 2013 at 2:01 am said:

    Thank you so much for enlightening me further on being humane. You are definitely an inspiration to others and now to me, too. Kudos on a great article and on being FP!

  37. TheWordpressGhost, on January 16, 2013 at 2:43 am said:

    Reblogged this on thewordpressghost and commented:
    I am now a change agent. I want to become the change I need to see in others.

    I want them to either change for good, or to burn themselves out.

    A century of progressive activists have promised us change.

    They gave us huge debt; global warming; broken families; genetically mutated foods; and much more in their quest to evolve humanity into a better world.

    I want to teach all the progressive activists to burn themselves out like forest fires.

    Why?

    Because America needs to heal from a century of progressive damage.

    They burned out our families. So, now our families are a disaster.

    They burned our men and women, so now, they can claim up to 30% of our children will experiment with homosexuality.

    They infected our young people with depression. So, people have a desire for drugs so they can self medicate.

    They scared progressive activists into BURN out, so they grab guns and go kill people ….

    Yes, I want people to change and become healthy American Citizens.

    Citizens seeking change in Washington. Outsourcing the politicians and replacing them with Patriots.

    If need be, start a forest fire, and let America re-grow new healthy growth over the next 20 years.

    Because the wasteful Change we were given will cost us 30 trillion dollars of new debt over the next 20 years.

    Let us change back to low drug use; healthy families; almost no government debt; lower taxes; much lower mental health issues; and lower gun violence.

    Let us get rid of the ‘modern’ broken way, and let us return to the traditional American values which worked, and are tried and true.

    What do you think?

    Can we change back in time to save America?

    ghost.

  38. sam jones, on January 16, 2013 at 2:53 am said:

    Reblogged this on BODHI and commented:
    Burn bright beautiful people :)

  39. prolemusings, on January 16, 2013 at 3:02 am said:

    This might sound a little silly, but i really like your phrase “change agent”. Had a long discussion with my uncle at christmas about such things, and think the phrase – as completely simple as it is- would’ve been good for our heated debate! Great post in general! :)

  40. revelationtoo, on January 16, 2013 at 7:54 am said:

    Reblogged this on Jerry Welch.

  42. jen0331, on January 16, 2013 at 1:49 pm said:

    This is beautiful. Very thought provoking.

  43. primalnights, on January 16, 2013 at 3:04 pm said:

    Meaningful Shane comes from the campfire sort of change far more often than a Forrest fire type.

  44. jimceastman, on January 16, 2013 at 8:45 pm said:

    You have great perspective to inspire people. Keep it up! I like your post a lot!

  45. paragoalie, on January 17, 2013 at 6:51 am said:

    Very good advice

  46. Freshly Riffed 17: The Very Model Of A Modern Major General « A VERY STRANGE PLACE, on January 17, 2013 at 5:52 pm said:

    [...] Be The Campfire, Not The Forest Fire: Yeah, but if I’m a forest fire then I might get a bit part in Bambi.  [...]

  47. fleet1ng, on January 17, 2013 at 11:39 pm said:

    Thank you for sharing that point of view.

  48. ETrade Supply, on January 18, 2013 at 2:35 am said:

    The picture reminds me of one scene in the movie Hungry Games.

  49. sunryze, on January 19, 2013 at 1:07 am said:

    Reblogged this on sunryze's Blog.

  50. shreya, on January 20, 2013 at 4:53 am said:

    So inspiring…..

  51. D. A. Hartley, on January 20, 2013 at 1:48 pm said:

    Reblogged this on Friend Nature and commented:
    ‘The World Becomes What You Teach. Zoe Weil founder of the Institute for Humane Education, talks about solutions! Very inspiring, teaching our children how to be problem solvers.
    Here is a video of her speaking on Ted Talks.
    You might have to paste this into your browser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5HEV96dIuY
    The Human Education Program

  52. outdoor-enthusiast, on January 20, 2013 at 5:00 pm said:

    Teaching how to have a life. Now that’s an education. To be differentiated from skill acquisition (reading, writing, arithmetic). Given me something else to think about during my daily bicycle commutes other than global warming and what can be my part in solving it.

  54. brownbearrealestatecom, on January 21, 2013 at 3:35 pm said:

    Very clever analogy. Made me smile. Good job Zoe!

  56. ohtallulah, on January 27, 2013 at 8:58 pm said:

    Fantastic post. This is a very unique perspective and I liked it a lot!

    http://choosesimplicitydotorg.wordpress.com/

  57. Taylor Devost, on February 24, 2013 at 3:44 pm said:

    Wow! This is very beautifully and poignantly written. Thank you for sharing. Not too long ago I struggled with the feeling of the fire in me being extinguished. I want that fire back! xo

  58. bldfarm, on March 3, 2013 at 5:21 am said:

    I enjoy your metaphor
    i tend to think in a slightly different direction tho
    is it better to be just another stick on a fire?
    or a candle in the darkness?

    is it better to line in an area saturated with free thinking folks who go out and speak their minds all the time, like Portland or San Francisco, or live somewhere that thinks that is a little backwards?
    somewhere that one small voice can make a difference to all the fence sitters what are simply keeping their opinions to themselves because no one would understand them

    this is why i moved away from the big big city into a tiny town where most folks know each other and most of them never leave the county

  59. E3, on March 23, 2013 at 6:21 pm said:

    Your article reminds me of the finer points of being a good fire officer.Activism maybe similar to being a sincere, passionate, responsible leader. I enjoyed your post.

  60. E3, on March 23, 2013 at 6:25 pm said:

    Reblogged this on firefighterkinetics and commented:
    I came across this article, it refers to activism and change and how you must temper your inner fire. I felt it was a good comparison to being a sincere, passionate, responsible fire officer.

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