Fireside with Parker

College was helpful, but I never remember taking a class on actually enjoying your life while surrounded by things to be afraid of in this world.
These lessons are best learned from less experienced professors, like Professor Parker, my little fireside buddy this weekend.
She taught me more in ten minutes than I have learned in the last year.
First of all, she was fearless around the fire. She knew it was there, she knew how to navigate around it, but she remained respectfully fearless. As she would grab for the marshmallows, she never thought, "what if I am not good enough to roast this marshmallow?" or worse, "I am going to get burned...put down the marshmallow and head for safety on the logs!"
Not Professor Parker. She felt through the leaves and brush for the marshmallow bag and pulled one by one out to see how completely in flames she could get it and laughing as it became a torch in the darkening sky. She was completely relaxed with having no idea if she was going to set the place ablaze. She roasted with confidence.
We should all take a lesson here and learn about the fire around us so that we can eliminate the fear and roast with laughter and a little less caution.
Parker didn't get burned. She didn't even have any ashes on her outfit. Absolutely no trace of any evidence that she had seriously torched a bunch of marshmallows and a stick. She went to bed completely unharmed with the memory of enjoying the bonfire more than the worried adults around her.
A little less worry and a little more fire...thank you, Professor Parker!