What Do Candles Have To Do With Self-Care?
Not long ago, I was in a really dark place, isolated, and facing some of the worst parts of my life. I forgot who I was, I lost my interests, and I felt like I was going nowhere into a black hole. I wasn’t taking care of myself and didn’t have a sense of purpose. I wanted to start building my life back up and being a maker is something that’s always been a part of me. I wanted to try something new, and I chose candle making as my new endeavor.
Making candles was more than just melting wax. For me, I was rediscovering my purpose, my drive, and my passions. I felt invigorated for life again, and slowly but surely, it grew into a business that I love doing. It’s helped me to realize how much of myself I let go, and how poorly I’ve kept up with my own self-care. Self-care is not about bubble baths, getting a manicure, or spoiling yourself with gifts. Self-care is taking care of your basic needs so you can function to the best of your abilities as well as practicing self-compassion and self-respect.
Self-care is making sure you’re taking showers and keeping up with good hygiene. It’s making sure you’re getting some physical activity and eating well. It’s having good sleep habits. It’s about changing the things in your life that are no longer serving you. It’s about finding respect and love for yourself. And that’s what these candles did for me. There is no direct correlation between candles and self-care in general, but for me, it is.
What I hope to do is to bring awareness to self-care to my audience through my candles, and to maybe bring a little more peace and joy into your life. I named all of the candles after a self-care activity or something nostalgic to be a reminder to you to practice these self-care rituals. For instance, the “In Love” candle is not about being in love with another person, but being in love with yourself. “Sunny Day” is not just to transport you to a tropical paradise, but also remind you to get your Vitamin D by going outside for a little bit every day.
After being in that black hole for such a long time, I’m still practicing my self-care rituals because I’m still working on them. There has to be a certain level of self-worth in order for self-care to even begin, and that’s a part of my journey I’m working on as well. We all have struggles in life, and I hope that we all can find enough worth within ourselves to treat ourselves with the respect and kindness we deserve.
