Suns & Candles

September 12, 2025


There’s something quietly fascinating about the way artists move through the world, how differently they carry their light. Some burn with a kind of internal fire that never seems to dim, while others flicker, bright and beautiful for a moment, but quickly fade when the fuel runs low. Let’s call them what they are: suns and candles.

The suns are rare. They are self-starters, self-motivated, and self-sustaining. They don’t wait for permission to create, they don’t rely on external validation to feel worthy, and they certainly don’t ask the world to understand them before they begin. They radiate. Their energy doesn’t come in bursts, it pulses steadily, endlessly, from within. These artists have learned to generate their own gravity. They wake up with ideas. They chase them down. They finish what they start. And even when the results are invisible to the outside world, they keep going. They shine because it’s in their nature.

Then there are the candles. And let’s be clear, candles can still be beautiful. Their glow is soft, warm, poetic. But they don’t burn unless someone else lights them. They rely on external sparks: compliments, likes, invitations, attention. And when those things don’t come, they flicker out. When the heat turns up, deadlines, criticism, discomfort, they melt. It’s not a failure of talent, it’s a failure of fuel. Because when the light depends on someone else’s match, it’s only ever temporary.

The difference isn’t talent. It’s wiring. It’s mindset. It’s hunger. The sun creates energy because it must. It is its own engine. The candle waits to be chosen, waits to be seen. But the truth is, no one is coming to light your wick every time you hesitate. No one is going to keep showing up for your dream if you don’t.

So if you feel like a candle, easily blown out, constantly waiting for something outside of yourself to get going, it’s time to ask a hard question: are you willing to become your own source? Are you willing to build the fire from within, to become the center of your own orbit, to show up even when no one’s clapping?

Because the sun doesn’t explain itself to candles. It just keeps burning. It just keeps rising. Not out of ego, not for show, but because that’s what it’s made to do.

If you're a sun, keep shining. If you're a candle, it’s time to stop waiting for a spark and learn to ignite from within. The world doesn’t need more flickering flames, it needs more steady light. Be the one who doesn't need to be reminded to rise. Be the one who burns anyway.