There are nights when a single flame becomes a teacher.
Lately, I’ve been sitting with candles during the darkest hours — between 2am and 3am — when the world is asleep and the mind is wide awake. I used to have three candles of different colours, lighting them based on mood or intention. They’ve since burned out, and I now use two standing candles. For some reason, I always light them together.
What I’ve noticed is… they each behave like individuals. Sometimes they dance wildly, sometimes they burn steady. Sometimes their flames split and multiply — especially when reflected in nearby objects like a flower vase or my 500ml beer mug filled with warm water. One night, I counted six flames from just two candles. Projections bounced off glass and water. Light bent. New shapes appeared. The candles hadn’t changed, but my perception had.
And in that moment, a thought arrived:
This is how false realities are born.
The Flame and the Illusion
The original flame is simple. It doesn’t perform. It doesn’t beg to be seen. But when your attention shifts — just slightly — illusions appear. False lights. Refractions. Multiplications.
And these new lights feel mysterious. Entertaining. More interesting than the quiet original. The source starts to feel boring. Predictable. No drama.
So you drift.
And just like that, you’re staring at illusions. Watching light that looks like truth but isn’t. All because you lost focus.
Attention is Work
Truth — like a flame — resists being possessed. You can’t stare at it forever. Your eyes will water. You’ll blink. You’ll look away. Because it takes effort to keep attention on anything real. Especially when the world is full of seductive distractions.
The false light appears when you lose attention to the flame.
But there’s another layer.
Sometimes, the flame itself pushes you away. It flickers. It flares. It makes you uncomfortable. Because truth isn’t always comforting. It challenges you to stay.
And when you don’t — when you look away — your mind will create something to replace it. That’s how illusions are born. Not just in candlelight, but in thought, memory, belief, and even love.
Reflections and Responsibility
Yet, there’s a paradox:
The same way illusions multiply false light, we can consciously multiply our own light.
If I hold truth and then reflect it through writing, through video, through soil, through my children — that’s not illusion. That’s extension.
The question isn’t how many lights — it’s whether the source remains intact.
Closing
So what was I observing that night?
I was watching reality and perception dance. Watching attention wobble between truth and distraction. Watching a metaphor come alive in glass, flame, and water.
Sometimes it takes two candles and a beer mug to show you how the mind escapes itself.
And sometimes it takes one flame to remind you: stay. Focus. Don’t chase every shimmer. Don’t be fooled by movement. Return to the source.
We give thanks.
