Finding Stillness

I hate to take you back to the dark days of covid but I’m going there. Picture this, we’re downtown Toronto living in a tiny 1 bedroom + den (that’s huge in the city!) and we are forced to live with two animals (yes we love them) between four walls indefinitely. Literally, it feels like the end of the world and I’m living in what feels like a glorified jail cell. I think the first thing I yelled when the pandemic was declared was, “SERENITY NOW!!” Of course, the thing I’m going to think of wanting to hoard are candles. And by no means am I a hoarder, Pete maybe ha ha, but there was something about the pandemic that brought the best out in most of us. WOW!

So, naturally, I decided to research how to make soy candles at home, here is the link for those who are interested. From there I bought all of the products in bulk and went for it! We had originally planned to give candles as our wedding favours and we started making them during covid. It was the perfect lockdown project for us.

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Pete is extremely handy and I’m creative and together we really enjoy the craft of making candles together, so we’ve continued to make them as a fun hobby on rainy days or planned “date days”. They make thoughtful birthday or Christmas gifts and we also love making them for everyday burning. And honestly, it’s not as messy as you might think and I think we can officially call ourselves small batch candle makers! I mean, hey, we've made 80 lbs worth of candles so far, but who's counting. 😉 Take a look.

Scientifically they say that:

Burning candles promotes relaxation, lowers blood pressure, can lower your heart rate and helps with stress management along with a host of other benefits. Overall, burning candles supports physical, mental and spiritual healing, need I say more!

Throughout my life, when I’ve felt lonely and lost, I’ve always gravitated towards candles to find a sense of calm and peace. So it’s no surprise that I picked up this candle making hobby during a very dark moment in history and in my life. Which is why going forward Pete and I have decided to gift the candles as a gesture to spread kindness. You never know what someone is going through and our hope is that the candle will provide some calm, peace and comfort.

In my next blog I talk about 'self-care and ways to prioritize yourself' without feeling guilty'. So stay tuned. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the candle making process I’d love to hear from you!

Take care,

Emily xo