The candle burns at its own rate. So should you.

There is a reason a candle flame is the thing most people find themselves watching when nothing else is required of them. It is not still. It is never quite predictable. It has a quality that screens don't have and that electric light doesn't have — the quality of being alive in some small, continuous way, of doing what it does without waiting for anything from you.

The candle is the most ancient form of light we still use voluntarily. We choose it now not because we need it but because of what it does to the room and to the hour and to the pace at which we're willing to live through it. A lit candle is a decision to slow down. Not dramatically. Not in any way that needs to be announced. Just: slower than the rest of the day.