“And for District 12, you know her as the girl on fire Katniss Everdeen! You had quite the entrance the other night at the Opening Ceremony, why don’t you tell us about it?” Caesar Flickman, host of the Hunger Game questioned.
Katniss replied, “Well I was just hoping I didn’t burn to death,” referring to her dress that was on fire during the Hunger Games opening ceremony.
The scene above is from an interview with Katniss, the female representative of District 12 in the famous trilogy series, “The Hunger Games.” The image of Katniss’s dress that was on fire is a powerful one as the symbolism in this film can be translated into life lessons for us. This connection, between Katniss and her dress on fire, has channeled her energy in the second Hunger Games book, “Catching Fire.”
Many people associate fire with passion, intensity, or even extreme love when it is mentioned. However, these adjectives could not be more far off from describing Katniss or the energy of the interview above. She is a very unenthusiastic, monotone and blandly energetic girl because she was simply accepting the circumstances that she found herself in, which in her case was to be a tribute in the Hunger Games. Her situation serves as a good reminder for the moments in our own lives when we have situations that don’t always serve us. There are times in our lives when we need to do more than just survive our circumstances; we need to learn to thrive in them.
Peeta, the male tribute for District 12, learned how to take these unwanted circumstances and transform them into something better, something worthwhile. This is where the magic happens: using one’s innate ability to transform something bad into a good. The concept of living one’s life “on fire” with passion and hope, translates to empowerment and motivation to live the best life. Not a perfect life, but making the best out of the circumstances we are given is how we can create motivation to be “on fire” in our lives.
“So Peeta, tell me, is there a special girl back home?”
“No, no not really”
“I don’t believe it for a second. Come on, tell us.”
“Well there is this one girl that I’ve had a crush on forever, but I don’t think she recognized me until the reaping, and I don’t think winning will help me, because she came here with me.”
Here, Peeta is describing the same circumstances that Katniss is under, but he flips the narrative, from one that is a tragic story to one that changes it to a love story, with the hope that Peeta’s love for Katniss will inspire him to make it through the games. In this scenario, Peeta strategically uses the tool that many business schools teach: the bricolage model.
The bricolage model states, “The bricoleur who is the ‘savage mind’ works with his hands in devious ways, puts pre-existing things together in new ways, and makes do with whatever is at hand.” This approach in business tends to suggest that companies find solutions that embrace creative reinvention, developing solutions through resource repackaging and resourcing. While some people in business can see rules, obstacles and expensive resources that can be acquired from professional suppliers, there are ample fast and cheap solutions everywhere. The bricoleur refuses to see obstacles as constraints.
Just as Peeta learned how to make the best of his circumstances, we, too, can learn to take unappealing circumstances in our everyday lives and transform them into something good. We can learn how to make the best out of what we are given. Become a bricoleur and see what can be transformed.
John O’Leary is a world-famous speaker and author who was a burn victim of a self-induced fire, has taken his painful and uncomfortable circumstances and transformed them into being on fire with his life. He is a St. Louis-born and raised family man who also happens to be an alumnus of Saint Louis University. O’Leary gave his testimonial at the 2023 SLU Commencement speech, inspiring graduates (like myself!) to live our lives with our souls on fire to inspire. In his most recent book, “On Fire,” he discusses the ability to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary. One of my favorite quotes from this book is this,
Whatever we focus on in life grows. Focus on the bad and it’s multiplied. Focus on the good and it expands, it’s all around. What if you could walk into every interaction expecting a smile, a new friend and a true connection? What if every moment was seen as a miracle? What if each moment was seen not from the perspective of what might go wrong next, but from one certain that the best is yet to come? Fear? Or love? What will you choose?
Here, he reminds us that we are the only ones who choose to see the glass as half full. And what a gentle reminder it is to take the perspective of choosing the good in a world that needs positivity and needs to see the good.
This concept of living our lives “on fire” seems daunting at first. However, when we examine the lives of Katniss and Peeta, and John O’Leary, we learn that living our lives on fire isn’t as hard as it seems. In fact, we can do so by embracing the mindset of a bricoleur. Learning to not let the rules and constraints of life keep us from living narrow-mindedly, learning detachment from specific answers and embracing new ways to solve the challenges that life throws our way. We can turn the ordinary into extraordinary and live our lives on fire by being a bricoleur. Shoutout Peeta for being the bricoleur we didn’t know we needed in our lives.
Peace.
Love.
Peeta.