Everyone Smells Life Differently

So... last weekend... I went shopping for my birthday. Between a combination of money (and a gift card) from my company, my Grandma, and my friend, I figured I could treat myself to a little something. All I really wanted for my birthday this year was fancy coffee. I like to get coffee from this place called Harry & David. They have really cool flavors that actually taste like they say they do. My favorite is the chocolate cherry flavor. I usually would get a bag of coffee... but a few years ago I won a Keurig at my company Christmas party. It had been some time since I shopped at Harry & David... but when I called to check out k cup prices... they wanted $12.99 for 12 cups. That is a little over $1 a cup. Nobody is doing that. Not when you can go to other stores and get k cups for much cheaper. Nevertheless... I thought that perhaps I could splurge a little in the event of my birthday. The Harry & David where I live is located in an outlet mall. I love going out there because the atmosphere is nice... and they have a duck pond. So... Saturday... I made my way out to the outlet mall in pursuit of my coffee. I guess you can say that age or maturity has changed me some. When I got to the store... I looked down at the box of coffee. The $12.99 price tag looked back at me. And somehow... I found myself walking out of the store... without the coffee. I just could not do it. $13 for 12 cups... I just could not bring myself to actually do it. I decided to wander over to the Yankee candle outlet next. I had every intention of picking up some candles that day... just not at the Yankee outlet. I just wanted to look in there because it had been a while since I visited. I was pretty free and clear because I really did not see anything that I wanted... until my eyes ran across Citrus Tango. Citrus Tango was a candle that I wanted a long time ago. They discontinued it before I got the chance to buy it. I REALLY wanted that candle... so when I saw it... I could not say no. The candles at the outlet are $13.99... my fancy coffee was $12.99... so I figured for a dollar more... I could have something a little more worth my while. I was good with my one little candle... but continued to look around. I started talking with the sales associates and we started discussing the different scents. They told me about the sale that they were running... but I told them that I was going to be good and only buy one. Then... they told me that there was a coupon to get 5 large jar candles for $35. Excuse me? For those who don't shop Yankee... 1 candle at retail price is about $27.99. Add tax and you are paying close to $30. I never pay full price for any of my candles... but the most that I have ever gotten for $30 is 2 candles. 5 is unheard of. So... my strength went out the window... and I started to look for 4 more candles. I had my line up going pretty good. I tend to have a hard time with these kinds of sales because I can be so indecisive... and sometimes there are so many options that you just want to buy the whole store. I felt like I was actually doing really well... until I wasn't. There was this one candle that the sales associates were raving about. I think it was called Australian Eucalyptus. Now... I love the Eucalyptus Mint candle from Bath & Body... so I was excited to smell this one. It smelled okay... but the buzz around it made me want it more. Honestly... the candle smelled like Vicks Vapor Rub. It was nothing like my Eucalyptus Mint... and yet... I was trying to make it fit into my mixture. I had the perfect mix going... but I just felt like I was missing out on something if I did not get the candle that was all the rage. It got to the point that I was going to break my little budget just to try and fit in this candle. One of the associates told me that the particular line of candles that the Australian Eucalyptus was in would be going on sale for 75% off the next weekend. I had one other candle from that line (Sicilian Orange... I have a thing for citrus scents) and he was saying that more people would prob be getting the Australian Eucalyptus. This kind of tempted me even more to just throw this extra candle into my basket (because I was not swapping if for the Sicilian Orange... but I also didn't want the other candle to get bought out)... but I could not get past the fact that I wasn't as into it as the other ones. I walked out with my 5 candles and nothing more. Yet... that candle haunted me all the way into the next morning. It's no secret that I have a serious problem am a candle collector. It is typical of me to leave my candle excursions feeling like I should have gotten something more. However... I told myself that I really didn't even like that candle that much... it smelt like Vicks freaking Vapor Rub... so why couldn't I let it go?

As I drove to church that morning... I thought about how this applied so much to life. I know. I know. Now... I'm trying to get deep off of some candles. The truth is... I see SO many things in life as metaphors. That just seems to be my thing. You can find lessons in the simplest things. Anyway... I thought about how there are so many things in life that we are not even all that into... yet everyone around us is buzzing about it. There was this one candle that one of the vloggers on YouTube kept talking about. I went to smell it...it smelled like hamster bedding. Yet... somehow... I kept trying to find a reason to buy it (I didn't buy it... but I'm still curious). This what we do with life. We listen to the buzz (even when we are not crazy about the "smell") and we try to make it fit to be like the masses. Candles are also like life in the sense that you have certain ones that are the tried and true classics. They call them "the traditions". They come back every year... and the people flock to buy them. We also have traditions. Most of them are called holidays. And every year... we flock all around trying to make ours fit into the societal standards. We also have "traditions" that fit into the span of our life cycle. They are called: chasing tangible success, getting married, having children, living the American Dream, and the list goes on. I used to do most of my candle shopping based on reviews. The more hyped the candle was... the more I wanted it. The less hype... I would sometimes pass on it. What started I find was that some of the scents that I would initially pass on were actually really great scents. Some of the hyped scents... were just okay... lackluster... or just not really my thing at all. Everyone smells scents differently. Some candles that people say pack a strong throw (this is how far the scent travels through your place) are not all that strong to me. Some candles that people say have no throw... are really quite pleasant... and have a decent strength to me. No one's nose is the same. Just like no one's brain, heart, or soul is the same.

I feel really passionate about different paths because I feel as though I took the standard path. I tried to do everything by the book... even though I am flawed. Sometimes, I get flustered because I feel like I was miseducated in a way. I wish that I would have invested my time in different things when I was younger. I'm not whining. I truly believe that taking any path will ultimately bring you where you need to be if you don't give up. I just think that it bothers me when I see the younger generations... or even my peers still being bamboozled by the opinions of the majority. The funny thing is that some of the people who follow (or followed) the narrow minded paths of society are not even happy. Yet... I see them STILL trying to push what "makes sense" to those around them. Even though I tried to follow the "practical" path in life... I have always been my own person. I feel like at this stage of my life... I am trying to be more true to what I am feeling in the moment... even if no one gets it. With all that being said... I am not saying that buying or buying into "the traditions" of life is wrong. I hate when people are SO removed from everything as well. I'm not totally against tangible success, marriage, children, the American Dream, or whatever else we are chasing. I'm just saying that it is also okay to not do what everyone else is doing. It is okay not to be on what everyone else is on. Maybe you will get into certain "scents" of life in your own time. And some "scents" may never be for you. All I am saying is: don't break the bank of your soul trying to be like everyone else. Find the mixture that works for you... and be HAPPY!!! :)

P.S. I also pictured that Coconut & Beach Flower candle because I was so excited to get that one as well. I really wanted that... but passed on it some time ago. Now I have it in a large jar (the other one was a smaller jar). See... good things come to those who wait! ;)

I swear that there is more to life than candles with me. I just really love collecting and burning them. And I use them almost all the time. Hahaha.

Love,

Autumn