Letter of Recommendation: Candle Hour

Lighting a candle and going to sleep. Yeah, that's something to recommend in this magazine.

What a wise and loving poem to send out into the world. I read it aloud to my family tonight at dinner, and 2/3 of the way through my 10-year-old quietly got up and turned off all the lights so that only our two small candles at the table lit the rest of our meal. And then we enjoyed and absorbed the last of the essay -- Ms. Scott knows how to bring it home. Thank you!

Love the idea of unplugging and soft light. But please don’t fall asleep to a burning candle!!!!

I’m going out to buy candles today.

So simple. So healing. Worth trying. Thank you.

Sounds exactly like Shabbat. Growing up in Brooklyn I remember my mother lighting candles and even at a very early age I understood that to mean that the world would be on hold for the next 25 hours. No TV, no phone, no shopping or running errands - just rest.

Terrifyingly image as I read this: the candle starting a fire while the author sleeps or doesn’t!!!!! Candlelight is so potentially dangerous.

Nice. Simply nice.

Beautiful! Sharing this widely. Thank you.

Beautifully written. I like the idea and practice of sending a peaceful and indomitable version of myself into the Dreamtime.

Beautiful idea, beautifully written. Thank you!

Brings back warm memories. I lived in inland China in the 90's and on the relatively remote island of Sulawesi in Indonesia for around a decade, in both places long power outages were a part of life, as were the use of candles. I used to love the warmth the muted light would bring to a room .. gorgeous. Often would burn incense at the same time. The good thing was the neighbourhoods were also dark and you could see the warmth of lights in other houses. Red candles were magic. The only thing you had to make sure of was not to burn the place down! candles do not have an auto-extinguish function so having them in a candlestick or in a saucer of water is mandatory if you have a habit going to sleep in its warm glow... cellphones and candles are from different ages and should not be mixed

What a wonderful piece on creating peace in our hearts in this seemingly ever increasing bludgeon filled world of electronic media. I say seemingly because as this wonderful writer so beautifully points out, we choose complicity in it at our peril. There are many ways to unplug of course but this is one of my favorites too. I have always been attracted to the gloaming, that magical ‘golden hour’ between brilliant day and moody nighttime. Dappled light reveals a glimpse of a world that we forget to see. And in that moment Time with a capital T is remembered into that part of us that knows while denying that these moments will never return, it’s all perishable, most especially me. And I relax into a tortured yet delicious existential reverie: which will allow me the most of my life: do I boldly do more, or do I boldly do less? And the candle burns.

Beautiful. We have a small cabin in the woods from which I am constantly banishing modernity. It has all the candles we need, a wood stove, a push mower. We do have electricity: for the refrigerator, the range, and the record player that my grandparents put in before I was born. I’m going to be burning more candles in town, now, too.

We eat by candlelight every night of the year. We raised our children with this celebration of family time at dinner, even when they were infants, and now our grandchildren also experience it. Candlelight does make us slow down to have the time together. On warm evenings, dinner is outside — with candles. There is a magic that encourages conversation, respect, joy, and love of family.

I've always loved power outages, though I admit that 7 days would stretch most of our patience anymore. Thanks for the lovely remembrances and practical application. Here in the northwest we have pretty long darkness during the winter and candles help provide an antidote or perhaps a warmth, until we reach the equinox. thanks for sharing.

I have candle time in the dark of early morning and in the evening. My grandchildren love it when they visit.

Lovely article; delightful idea. Sounds like a perfect addition to my self-imposed TV news avoidance. By not watching TV news, I prevent intrusion of negativity into my brain & body. This is one type of pollution over which I have control. Candle Hour will be the perfect substitute. I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR SHARING CANDLE HOUR.

I use color twinkle lights and battery candles, as I am concerned with live flame if I fall asleep. but the same idea. A cool house and a warm cat on my feet helps. I like how you changed adversity (ice storm) in to peace with a glow. Thank you.

We were without power for nearly 2 weeks after Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We had just moved into our house and found kerosene lamps in the basement, which we used at night for reading and toothbrushing. Because it was a wood frame house filled with boxes that needed to be unpacked, we didn't use candles. The light and scent of the kerosene lamps were soothing. By the end of the power-less period, our house was quite cold (48 degrees F on the last morning.) I have never slept so well in my life.

We had a similar ice storm in 1994, I think. I went outside and thought there was a war on, but it was just the rifle-shots of popping branches giving way to ice (and gravity.) The clean-up wasn't over until the winter wheat was being harvested in May. A Candle Hour sounds like the perfect antidote to too much social media exposure.

Thank you for sharing this lovely ritual with us. I, too, find solace in the sight of burning candle and, some years ago, began the practice of lighting one each evening. For me, the flame marks the end of the day's obligations and signals that it is time to focus on the people and activities I value.