Moot and Soot

Let me share with you one of my stupidest moments. It was only recently, this year, when I started using aromatherapy oils for my home. I was instantly addicted when I tried Body Shop's green tea home oil fragrance. In Singapore, L's roomie was into this Bel Air Paris networking thing, and I remember the whiff of the green tea scent, which really made my sleep a lot less anxious than in its normal nature. I loved it. It was no surprise then that green tea would be the best selling scent of The Body Shop, too, given its relaxing effect, thus fulfilling the need of consumers who wanted a relaxing scent at home.
So there I was, enjoying the scent, pouring in more than 8 drops each time on my aromatherapy set from Cagayan de Oro, and my room would be a haven, a real sanctuary for those who seek peace, silence and comfort. I was using it so frequently that my tea light candles, a set of 12 ran out fast. Tempted to use some generic white candles, free samples from the office, I didn't mind that the wax would spill over the floor. They could spill, but I could always crack it from under and not leave a mark on the floor. So I did. Days passed, I was ok except for the cleaning up of the soot which would gather thickly on the surface of the aromatherapy set and my fingers would get dirty. Sometimes the black substance would stick to the floor and I can only remove it with Ariel.
One time, thinking about this inconvenience, I put tissue paper below the aromatherapy set. I didn't want my floor dirtied! And moreover, I didn't want to clean the floor with soot! I totally forgot about the wax spillover. When only the wick was left standing, L told me what did I do, why was there tissue paper on the floor? Afraid of being thought of as stupid, I proceeded to blow off the flame. Lo and behold, the flame from the candle spilled over the tissue paper, and guess what happens to paper when touched by flame? Fire!
I still wasn't about to be thought of as stupid, I used the water on the aromatherapy set to quench the fire. Of course I forgot that the water has the oil drops from the home fragrance. So boom. How does one add fuel to the fire? Add oil!

Can you imagine how big the flame got? I can't tell you how stupid I felt or how my knees felt weak, thinking about the fire, my furniture, my floor. All of these in less than sixty seconds. Good thing, my tempo is quick even if my mind was a little dull, I had enough sense to get my fire extinguisher, which has not been used before, and L had enough alertness to know how to use it. It was over. My floor was dusty from the powder, my couch safe from damage, a little soot and wax on my floor, but my stupidity was unbelievable.

I ended up cleaning more soot than ever before.

Oh, and my aromatherapy set? It's happily ensconced in its new home, the restroom with poutpourri. It's going to take time before I have the courage to bring it into the room again. Maybe when I have enough common sense.