Weightless and Full of Fire
Rediscovering Childhood Energy Through Imagination
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to write a book.
A non-fiction, straightforward, literary delivery of my entire life’s philosophical and spiritual viewpoints based on everything I’ve ever read, encountered, felt, and concluded, distilled into a fine, easily digestible tincture. Something subtle, yet raw and concentrated.
I’ve started this book five or six times.
Each time, what was meant to become a book devolved into an extended essay, which I would typically break down into smaller essays and deliver to you via Substack, and Medium before that.
But! Recently, I had an epiphany. What if I offered my concepts through a fictional narrative? A solid arrow of fabricated story that connected the ideas through characters, plots, and themes. Giving them life in a world that is designed for them. This is what mythology does. It’s what great works of fiction are composed of, and what fuels their imaginative power, which lends to personal transformation and motivational inspiration.
Because of this hopeful revelation, I’ve started reading a lot of high fantasy lately, for research...of course. At least that’s how it started. Over the past few days, I’ve had trouble distinguishing my “research” from a state of complete dissociation with objective reality, if I’m being honest.
In other words, the worlds in those pages have become very real to my imagination — if you can accept that contradiction. They carry a tangible psychic weight that I can feel is contributing to my growth as a being exploring the human condition. What I’m trying to say is this: stories can tickle the deepest, most remote parts of our brains like nothing else can.
As a young lad, I absolutely loved epic fantasy stories. No, I lived for them. I drew such energy from them. But somewhere along the road to adulthood, I forgot about that love and replaced it with an addiction for “knowledge” about things, mainly as a defense mechanism, completely ignoring the fact that there is just as much learning to be done in a good work of fiction as there is in any book. Coincidentally, after this trade, I slowly began to lose the abundance of childhood energy that was generated by these epic tales, and I started drinking coffee as a supplement…
I’m grateful to have rediscovered this feeling, this **fountain of youthful energy, as it serves as a poignant reminder that much of what we call personal growth is actually a return to what our inner child has been screaming at us for some time.
“Can we play now!?”
**I am beginning to wonder if the fountain of youth, the holy grail, etc., are found within the pages themselves, rather than being allusions to real-world objects, forces, or people. What if the fountain of youth is literally the abundance of energy supplied by the story about a fountain of youth? Or a holy grail. Or Gods, and demons, and mages, and powers beyond human comprehension. Could this be the wellspring of life?
Moving on.
The purpose of this brief post is threefold.
To explain my week-long hiatus from Substack. (I’ve been absorbed in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive series.)
Write something — anything. If I don’t use it, I might lose it.
Share a fun system of spiritual growth that I invented for a fiction series. 😊
Having already tackled the first two, here’s the system.
It’s anti-hierarchical, yet progressive, and divided into three fluid steps that also serve as the core beliefs around which everything else (r)evolves.
The three tenets are:
Unfettering
Rekindling
Bequeathal
Unfettering is the process of dropping psychological weight.
It’s a system for un-gripping all the baggage that has been accumulated during our earthly travels. This is the first of three steps for psychological, spiritual, and philosophical alchemy. Without this step, it’s nearly impossible to ignite our spark, which is the first part of step two, Rekindling. Unfettering is analogous to the Dark Night of the Soul and is necessary for clearing the waters of our psyche to find the conditions for an eclipsed light that hides within.
I’m going to use two metaphors to explain this system: one modern and one timeless.
The first is finding an abandoned old car in the woods and getting it running. 🚘
The other is building a fire in the middle of a dark forest. 🔥
Within these two metaphors, the unfettering stage is equivalent to cleaning the brush off the car and removing unnecessary junk on the inside, giving it a thorough inspection. Within the fire metaphor, unfettering is akin to going out into the night, looking for kindling and bark, and drying them to use as a starter for a fire. It’s a necessary preparation for the next stage.
Rekindling is the second of our three-step transformational journey.
During this stage, we locate and feed the creative fire within. In 2025, we face numerous obstacles that hinder this process. Entertainment technology, social media, mass marketing, and other similar platforms all provide sensory-addicting excuses for us to remain in a familiar state of consciousness, a state of mind dictated by logic, desire, and insatiability. Yet, beneath this flashy neon fun, we ache for something more. This feeling is a call to rekindle the flame in our hearts; to unlock the imprisoned emotions that constantly tap at the foggy windows of our souls. After the inner fire is lit, the practitioner is ready to bequeath their knowledge to others through whatever vehicle they are inspired to use.
In the car metaphor, this is akin to fixing the engine and turning it over.
In the building of a fire, it’s the first spark created by the new tools and skills you acquired from the unfettering. Once lit, it will grow naturally and eventually become a wild bonfire if you’ve sufficiently dried your kindling.
Bequeathing is the third and final step of this spiritual philosophy.
After one has unfettered themselves of all delusions, and subsequently rekindled their inner fire, they are essentially weightless and full of energy — ready to transmit or bequeath this inner knowledge unto others.
The bequeathing process is dependent on the inheritor. If one is still unfettered, then this process entails guiding others through that process. If one is ready for Rekindling, then prepare to teach fire. The bequeathal stage is the stage of the teacher. Those who have traversed through the processes of unfettering and rekindling become eligible to transmit this wisdom in any way they deem fit. Gnosis, not memorized information, is transmitted, but it’s up to the receiver to integrate this into their own worldview. A finger pointing at the moon is still just a finger, and the moon just a symbol for something much less understandable.
Bequeathing is the path of the Buddha, as opposed to the stone Buddha, who keeps his knowledge under wraps so as not to disturb his own inner bliss.
In each respective metaphor, this involves teaching others how to drive, carpooling with them, and ultimately selling them the car for next to nothing; it is sharing the warmth of the fire and cooked food with others, and teaching them how to make their own before sending them on their way.
The last thing to know about this spiritual system, for now, is that it is circular.
After the Bequeathal, you’ve happily relinquished your car. It’s time to go find another one, even if it’s to be given away once again! So, it’s back to the darkness of the wood to collect twigs, followed by a relearning of fire, this time with less material, less effort, and more mastery. And then, once again, we pass the knowledge.
And then, yes.
Back to the woods.
Collecting sticks side-by-side with everyone else.
Final destinations are for quitters.
Thanks for reading!
—The Green Philosopher
I see the Stormlight Archive in this cycle. 🙂
I can deeply resonate with both your book aspirations and your description of how to get the metaphorical car running and out into the world to do good.
I also have long held a wish to write and I'm finally getting that fire lit for the first time