The Phoenix Rising Out Of the Ashes. Crisis Is Opportunity

The phoenix rising out of the ashes.  I painted this on a wall in a house once.  The house was sold and the wall demolished, but my phoenix lives on.

I love the myth - that the phoenix, after living a certain amount of time, builds a nest for itself which catches fire.  Both bird and nest are burnt to ashes.  From the ashes the new phoenix rises in all its glory.  The story of life.

I guess for me the phoenix represents that part of us which knows instinctively that the edifice we've built around ourselves and which is made up of all our defenses and projections, prejudices, fears, unresolved emotions and pain - that edifice serves a purpose for a while, but the time comes when it's reached its sell-by date.  It's not useful any more.

We can't give up it all up consciously and willingly, it feels too safe.  So we crash and burn - courtesy of our inner Phoenix which knows what to do.  Nobody likes to crash and burn, but the result is always something stupendous.