Contributed by Colin Lenhart, Sacred Fire Seattle WA


RitakaI was first asked if I’d like to contribute something to Around the Fire while attending Ancient Wisdom Rising 2015. Of course I said yes and I brought it back to Seattle, where Jimmy, Liz, and I bounced around ideas for an article. We three young adults had become great friends in the preceding year and I wanted to do something about all of us, a piece that would show just how much fun we have together. (Shoutout to Chloe Brown, the fourth member of our group, though she was not able to be a part of our video.) I wanted to speak about friendship and good times and how we support each other as we travel along, yet I was at a loss for how to do that in an article.

I think it was Jimmy who first jokingly suggested making a video. We laughed and spent a few minutes talking about all the ridiculous videos we could make, like a cross-dressing dance party or imitating some of the better-known SFC folks. Although it was said in jest, I thought the idea of a video was perfect. A written piece is great but it’s hard to capture the intricacies of interaction in word, like how canned jokes are funny but they can’t replace the spontaneous laughter that exists among good friends. And so these videos were born.

The first one is just us having fun together, laughing and joking with each other. It is our way to spread the joy and we hope it puts a smile on your face. The second video is us going deeper into the blessing we receive from the fire and from each other. It speaks to how our time together around Fire shapes how we walk in the world.

We hope you will take the time to watch both clips AND to please let us know what you think about them. Would you like to see more of them in the future or no thanks? It’s an experiment, so your feedback is important!  

The first part, warming things up with laughter:

The second part is us diving deeper and talking about authenticity: