"If I could only remember that the days were, not bricks to be laid row on row, to be built into a solid house, where one might dwell in safety and peace, but only food for the fires of the heart"

Edmund Wilson’s reflection suggests a shift in how we conceive of our days and, by extension, our lives. The analogy to bricks and houses conjures the idea of permanence, safety, and the orderly accumulation of time as a means toward a stable end. Such an image captures a common desire: building a life that offers refuge from uncertainty. Each day is seen as a brick, solid, predictable, contributing tangibly and reassuringly to a durable sanctuary where peace is presumed to await. There is comfort in this metaphor, and its appeal lies in the promise of control and the illusion that with enough careful construction, everlasting tranquility can be within reach.

Yet, Wilson contrasts this with a more fluid, ephemeral understanding. Days are not bricks, but instead “food for the fires of the heart.” Here, time is consumed, intensely, passionately, rather than stored or accumulated for lasting protection. Rather than serving as a defense against the world, the days become fuel for inner vitality, sources of warmth and energy sustaining the spirit. The heart’s flames are not about securing peace by building walls but about experiencing life in the fullest, most immediate sense. There is a bittersweetness in the metaphor: fire provides light and heat, but it is transient, inexorably burning away what it feeds on. To see days as fuel is to accept impermanence, to cherish moments not because they endure but because they kindle inner life and feeling.

Wilson’s meditation resists the comfort of permanent shelter in favor of fleeting illumination. It nudges us towards valuing each day not as mere means to an end or a block in a fortress, but as an experience to be felt, lived, and expended with passion. The heart’s fire is sustained only as long as we continue to feed it with our most vital experiences, reminding us to be present, to embrace change, and to find meaning in the intensity with which we live.