Fuel Your Fire: Make Time for What Makes You Feel Alive

I think we all have things that make us feel a little more alive.

The things we can get completely lost in. The things that make us forget about the stress of everyday life for a while and bring us back to ourselves.

I've learned that making time for those things isn't selfish. It's an important part of living a healthy and meaningful life.

For me, that fire comes from a lot of different places.

It's movement and Acro yoga. It's climbing and challenging myself to see what my body is capable of. It's heading outside with my camera and capturing a moment in nature that might never look exactly the same again.

It's creating art with my own hands.

It's exploring somewhere I've never been.

And maybe most importantly, it's being fully present with the people I love.

These things may look like hobbies from the outside, but to me they're much more than that. They're part of what keeps me curious, creative, healthy, and excited about life.

As life gets busy, I think it's incredibly easy to start putting those parts of ourselves aside. There is always something that needs to get done. Another responsibility. Another reason to say, "I'll do it later."

But later has a way of becoming months—or even years.

I'm trying to remind myself that a healthy life isn't only about taking care of my body. It's also about continuing to do the things that make me feel like me.

So I've been asking myself a simple question:

What makes me feel alive?

Not what I'm supposed to enjoy.

Not what looks productive.

Not what someone else thinks I should be doing.

What genuinely makes me happy to be here?

For me, some of the answers are incredibly simple: movement, mountains, photography, creating something from nothing, spending time outside, and sharing life with people I love.

Those are the things I want to make room for.

Whatever yours are, don't lose them in the busyness of life.

Take the photograph.

Make the art.

Climb the mountain.

Move your body.

Spend the afternoon outside.

Call someone you love.

Do more of the things that remind you how good it feels to truly be alive.

Fuel your fire.

And protect a little space in your life for whatever makes it burn.

— Stems from Love