Annual Review of Unused Fancy Candle
The candle is expensive and smells good. The candle has been in the living room for eight months. The candle has not been lit because lighting it would begin its end.
Year in review: the fancy candle. Purchased: October. Current wax level: 100%. Occasions evaluated: fourteen. Occasions lit: zero.
The Economics
The candle was purchased for a specific price that communicated quality. The quality is expressed in the wax, the fragrance, the vessel, and the overall composition. The quality has a duration: once the wick is lit, the candle begins consuming itself, and at some burn rate, it ends.
The preservation of the candle at 100% preserves the full quality indefinitely. Lighting it begins the decline.
The Right Occasion Problem
The right occasion for the candle has not yet been identified from among fourteen candidates. The evaluation criteria for a right occasion:
- Special enough to warrant the candle.
- Not so public that the candle becomes a prop rather than an atmosphere.
- The right time of day.
- The right company, or the right solitude.
- Not a day when other things are also happening that would compete with the candle's moment.
These criteria eliminate most ordinary occasions. The special occasions that pass some criteria fail others.
The Alternative Outcome
A candle that is never lit is a candle that served its purpose as an object rather than as a light source. It contributed to the room's aesthetic for eight months. It communicated: this is a household that has this kind of candle.
This is not nothing.
The Resolution
The candle will be lit when it is taken down by accident and it seems wrong to put it back unlit. Or during a power cut. Or during a moment of decisiveness about getting the most out of things.
Until then: 100% wax, excellent quality, available.