Campfires and Doritos

My happy, smoky place

We build lasting relationships around campfires. In my opinion, the best campfires are those that go late into the night with friends and a bag of Doritos. No Canadian summer is complete unless you get to spend some time around a crackling and smoky fire catching up with friends. No formal agenda or subjects to cover, just people and a bag of salty, spicey savory tortilla chips.

There's something very neutral and welcoming about a campfire. Success and status have a way of becoming irrelevant around the warmth of these kinds of gathering places. This is where humanity learned the art of sharing and listening. Stories shared around a campfire have a way of creating relationships and understanding. Relationship is a gateway to empathy. What I've come to understand in the last few years is that I can't understand someone until I understand their story.

"...Because we have the capacity for imagination, stories bring other people's experiences to life, so we can see, and very often feel, events that didn't happen to us."- The Moth

So, may I make this Canada Day suggestion to you? Look for opportunities to join others around a campfire. Learn to share your story well, but we all must get very good at listening. National unity cannot be achieved in debate with those we disagree with. Yes, people and bad ideas need to be challenged, but change can only happen if we can listen to one another. I'm not naive to how difficult a task this is- but nothing worthwhile is easy. We have to try. One campfire and one bag of Doritos at a time!

Happy Canada Day, Friend! May you find a warm, hospitable fire to sit around with good company.