The light over my dining table started acting strangely. When I turned it on there was only a very dim light. If I left it on for a minute or so, the light would come up to full strength. Puzzling, but something I could live with.

Out of curiosity, I started to time how long took to fully light up. It grew longer each day and once it exceeded 2.5 minutes I decided it was time to do some serious investigating into this matter.

The electrician I spoke with asked if I had LED bulbs. It seems that as they age their capacitor can degrade, taking them longer to warm up to full strength. This could explain the gradual illumination I was dealing with.

It all makes sense to me know. I’m similar to LED bulbs. I used to be a morning person. Now, I appreciate a gradual start to my day, often not reaching my full potential until closer to noon. Maybe I’m conserving energy or maybe it’s an aging thing. My capacitor, or capacity to light up quickly isn’t what it used to be. Sometimes I flicker like the soft light of a candle and other times I sparkle like Christmas lights. 

Either way, I’m enjoying the thought that I have similar characteristics to these long life bulbs. I not only find this encouraging, but quite illuminating!