It’s Saturday evening; the day is winding down and all the “things” needing to be done for the day are behind me. As I sit in my favorite chair in a room lit only by a few candles, my wife, daughter, and I start sharing a conversation. Soon things begin to get a bit deep and I realize that, with my daughter in particular, the conversation is turning into a special one. An opportunity to talk about some important life issues; a moment to discuss who we are and most importantly, who she is and wants to be. As our conversation winds to a close and she heads out of the room, I sit quietly and find myself looking into the flame of the candle in from of me.

This little flame is providing light for me, but is symbolic of so much more. As I look at this little candle and observe its flickering nature I can see my daughters, my wife, myself, and others that I know and love. It’s just a bit of string in some wax right? Wrong. A simple bit of string would just burn up in the blink of the eye. This little wick has a solid base that is sustaining it.

While this candle slowly burns inside its glass hurricane, seemingly protected from any draft, it still appears to be flickering in a way that makes it look like it’s attempting to get away. The yellow part of the flame is jumping and weaving back and forth, just like we all do from time to time. Maybe we’re searching for something; maybe we’re stretching and growing. Like this candle, maybe that’s how we radiate our light into the world. Perhaps it’s how we help to see our own path through the darkness and how we help others by shining a bit of our light into their path. I also see that when we do this, we need to stay connected to our base. We need to know who we are at our core and even when we extend ourselves, we need to realize how important it is that we not leave the source of our own light.



At the root of every flame is the blue center. We all know from our own experiences that this focal point is the hottest part of the flame, but blue is also the color of tranquility. In contrast to the flickering and jumping upper part of the flame, the base of the flame hardly moves and seems calm and under control. When we are in alignment with and truly know who we are at our core, we are also calm and at peace. I hope my daughters continue to explore and reach. I also hope they remember that if they stay connected to their core values and beliefs, their lights will never be extinguished.

By the soft illumination of this light I recall the words of a good friend to his own kids whenever they leave the house, “Don’t forget who you are!”