Morning lesson

I am constantly looking for images, signs, new symbols, and when I receive one, it's a delight.

Candlelight is one of the pleasures in my life. I consistently keep a candle burning under a fragrant wax or oil. Every evening, I'll have at least one candle burning just to enjoy the softening of light. I rarely use my crystal or silver candlestick holders. Like the fine china, they come out only when I entertain others. For my own pleasure, I have other candle holders, inexpensive, some practical, some whimsical, but all appealing to something inside me. One of my favorites I picked up at big box store. It's nothing fancy, a stained glass cup with no handle made of small irregular tortoiseshell tinted and gold painted squares. It sits on a matching saucer.

Weeks ago, my candle burned down inside it completely. The melted wax adhered to the interior, and no matter what I did, I couldn't get the candle remnants out. I scraped, pried, and picked. I poured hot water into the cup, hoping to soften it. I placed it in a water bath on my stove, letting the heat gradually build. Still that chunk of wax was stuck. It's been sitting on my kitchen counter for weeks now, and this morning, I just decided to give up, and use it anyway with smaller candles and accept that the light refraction would be diminished but still enjoyable. I washed it along with my other dishes, and set it upside down on the dish rack to air dry. That's when that stubborn hunk of wax just fell out.

I know that all of my efforts over the weeks contributed to my ultimate candle wax victory, but time and time again, I'm reminded to just surrender and accept things the way they are. It seems that only then do my efforts succeed. I guess I need both, the acceptance of reality and the work to make things better.