The Long Story of Joyful Candle

Joyful, in particular, is about the art of noticing. Though this practice has become the core of the reason why I create, Joyful is the origin story of my journey in finding joy and beauty in life through appreciating the little moments.

You might have heard of the art of noticing through the Instagram trend. If you haven't seen videos of it, please do. It's the calm and peaceful corner of social media nowadays, the same one that capitalises on instant gratification, fast dopamine releases and our ever-shortening attention span (or maybe it's one of the causes of it).

The story begins when I was 17. A grumpy, angry teenager in China who spent most of her days on academic school work and 8 hours of piano practice every day (I was in a music school). 

Keeping my head down seemed like the easy way to get out of trouble at school and in life. That's not how I wanted to live, of course, but desperate times call for desperate measure. Every day, everything seemed like a challenge I didn't know how to navigate through. I often lashed out, or internalised it, like a lot of people do.

Through an opportunity to go on a trip to the UK, I brought my dad's good camera with me so I could document the journey. It was very special to visit a place with a drastically different culture, geography and weather than what I was used to. 

The camera was an old one, but digital, so it wasn't really difficult for me to pick up. I'd learned the basics before I set off, and I was genuinely excited to use this machine. 

For a 17 year old, I thought it was a very grown-up thing, to be able to carry a rather expensive and professional looking camera on a trip abroad.

With the right environment and the right tool, I discovered an outlook that was quite new and gently life-changing.

I carried the camera with me at all times. I started taking pictures of a random flower in someone's front garden, a beautiful sunset, the pattern of a tree, a butterfly on a wildflower, the sun shining through the rain. 

This is where my perspective changed. I found myself appreciating the little things I found beautiful, and what's more, I started seeing and noticing things that were beautiful in the first place. 

In a way, that flower was always going to be in that garden I walked past, and there were always flowers in China too, but with the excitement, the novelty of a different environment, and a proper and "serious" permission slip (the good camera), I was truly able to accept and discover this newfound perspective.

In this natural way, an unlikely combination of a grumpy teenager and photography taught me a loving life lesson on how to see the world through an appreciative lens (excuse the pun). 

Though I don't have the notepad anymore, I will always remember what I wrote down during that trip: to be a good photographer, you need to SEE the moment in front of you.

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"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

…

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don't feel so bad"

–My Favourite Things, song from The Sound of Music

The second scene of Joyful is a nod to this song. 

Not long ago, if someone were to ask me what my favourite things are, I might have stumbled and told you, ummmm, jewellery. 

Not to take it away from people whose favourite thing is jewellery, but if I'd answered jewellery, I would have missed the point of what I now understand about this song. My Favourite Things is about the little joyful things in life that slowly but quietly lift us and make us happy. If photography showed me how to see beauty, then this song truly allows me to appreciate its magic.

My version of this song goes something like this:

"Steam rising from warm tea
Soft linen tablecloths covering old wooden tables
Cottage windows opening onto flower-filled gardens
Bees and butterflies dancing under the blue sky"

How I gauge if anything can make the list of my favourite things is whether I feel a content feeling in my stomach, which I've often found to be a more authentic expression than anything the mind comes up with. 

It doesn't have to be complex at all. Content, peace and joy, in my experience, all show up more obviously in my stomach. When I'm content and doing things I enjoy, I get that grounded fullness right there. There's a lot more scientific research to support this now, with the gut being our second brain and its role in our well-being.

Finding joy can be really simple. Though it's great to have ambition in life, like wanting a lot of money and recognition, that would be problematic in my mind if I mistook it for happiness. 

Money can definitely make people happy, but the difference I want to point out is that a goal doesn't always equal happiness. In the way mindfulness or spiritual teaching would put it: the power of the present; we only exist in the present; money and recognition will come once we are happy, etc. 

Joy and happiness are far more consistent, solid and grounded if they make up my life right now and are accessible to me. This is my preferred way of looking at it, quite logical and less romantic.

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Joyful candle is a story about how to find magic in small moments in life. The illustration is purely inspired by things that bring me peace and happiness, like my own version of My Favourite Things in the form of a candle. 

The fragrance is made up of what I'd call a happy scent, essential oils I feel deeply connected to, ones that make me feel like what I want to smell when I am feeling joyful. Brighter floral and grapefruity tones. Intentionally made for myself, for when I need a pick me up.

The magic of this candle is that now I'm reminded of these little joys in life whenever I lay eyes on it, or catch a whiff of the fragrance. It doesn't make me immensely happier or ecstatic, nor does it solve problems in my life that are more profound than a candle can solve. The intention is smaller, more accessible and to have less friction in building these little bits of positivity to slowly shift my mindset and build out a more peaceful and happy life for myself.

From Yaya