The Power of a Single Candle
As human beings, we tend to be afraid of the dark. We build fires when we’re outside, or build walls to keep out the dark and bring our fires in. Over the years, those fires became torches and gas lamps and eventually electric lights, but the concept remains the same — we bathe ourselves in light to fight the darkness and the things that we’re afraid might lurk there.
Now, we spend so much time shrouded in the blue-white light of our computer screens that even when we get the time to sit in darkness, that glow lingers on our eyes. ( Metaphors aside, it’s also why you have trouble sleeping if you use computer or phone screens late at night.)
Now, I’m probably what you’d consider one of those weird new age millennials who meditates, does yoga, and believes in the healing power of crystals — and you’re not wrong.
Well, you’re a little wrong — I’m not very good at yoga. I prefer kickboxing.
My desk is covered with a scattered collection of crystals, and I’ve got a labradorite pendulum hanging around my neck. And behind my keyboard, at all times, is a lit candle.
It’s usually a white, unscented candle — I go through so many candles that it’s cheaper that way — and it sits in a small, square candle holder that I bought at the Dollar Tree. It’s nothing special or fancy —it’s no hygge set up or anything — but at the same time, I don’t feel right if it’s not lit.
I can have every light in the house on, but that little candle isn’t there to help keep the room bright. It’s there to brighten those dark corners of my mind that follow me during a downswing.
Depression is a tricky, fickle beast. With bipolar disorder, I get both sides of the coin but of the two, depression is harder to deal with. Mania I can understand, if not always cope with — that boundless energy is something that I can channel into anything from my writing to the dishes that get left for days when I shift into depression.
Having that single candle lit, even if it’s just visible out of the corner of my eye, helps stave off the darkness. That is the power of a single candle.
Like what you see? Click that little green heart to show your support, find me on Twitter, or donate to feed my writing habit and help me buy more candles!
