Yoga and Fire Fighting Tales from Rural Maine: Curious

Yesterday was my first really free Saturday since I signed up for the Hancock County Fire Academy in *November.* There was no specific need to train or to study hanging over my head; no serious bruises or exhaustion to recover from. (The remaining Academy bruises are small and not really sore unless you press on them. They've slowly gone from purple and blue to green and brown and now they are fading away.) For the first time in seven months I had no nagging sense that I was way behind (hopelessly behind) at something important. I just had a *day*. A sunny, beautiful DAY all to myself! And gosh, it was grand.

I had coffee in the sun with friends.
I picked lilacs.
I read a whole issue of Organic Gardening magazine while lying in my hammock.
I decided that my largest ornamental garden will be entirely made of circles this year! And I went to work creating it.
I planted allllll of my potato starters (thanks to FF Rabs' rototilling work on Friday!) And I noticed that I have *a lot* more stamina and a greater tolerance for bending over and digging in the hot sun after Fire Academy. Heck, I could've planted that whole garden wearing full PPE and SCBA. :-)So, that's awesome!

I watched *two* movies!

I did my physical therapy and my daily practice.
I put on a sundress and ate a fruit juice popsicle in the sun.
I went for a walk.
I watched a lovely sunset over a field and not a single bug bothered me.
I folded laundry.
I talked on the phone to my friend Alice for *seven hours*!!! (There's just so much catching up to do!)
I drank a nice, cold boozy orange soda.
And I stayed up laaaaaate snuggling with Jasper on my new couch watching a terrible disaster movie (my favorite!) without any concern for what it would cost me the next day. It was heaven.

YUM. I *loved* my free Saturday.

But also? I kind of wanted to read more about aqueous film-forming foam (and the other fire fighting foams) because that's one area that I really still don't feel solid on. And also Class B fires. Some of the exam questions confused me and it's stuff I'd really like to know. I wanted to learn more; and not because I *have* to. I've completed my requirements for graduation; I've taken my exams, and there's even a decent chance I passed...and it wasn't just because studying became such a huge part of my daily routine. I wanted to study because I wanted to learn...

I often teach my students that curiosity is among our greatest gifts; I teach them that curiosity is the remedy to fear (and also shame and other low-vibration emotions). If you can get curious about your own life, you can break open, break free; if you get curious about flying, you can fly. But first, you have to get curious.

When the work clears out and the day is your own, where your mind and your heart and your body want to go tells you a lot about your self. Your choices are your priorities.

On my free day, I chose friends and fresh air and gardening and relaxation and comfort and conversation and coffee and happiness and exercise and a sunset and stories and lilacs and popsicles and snuggling. And I resisted the urge to pick up my textbook again...because it felt important to just *rest* for heaven's sakes! But I'm glad to know that even though this was an important time for resting--and a beautiful day to give myself a break--I am *curious* about the work of fire fighting (and other things). And this curiosity, for me, equals love.

(This photo by the way is what happened when I got curious in Costa Rica about whether my yoga friends and I could make "love" on the beach with our bodies. The answer is yes, we can. ):-)