---
name: slow-flame-metaphor
description: Use as a memory aid when a safe change feels too large and the user is discounting small repeatable steps. Connect the image to one smallest approach step without promising a big outcome.
license: CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
compatibility: Portable Agent Skills compatible. No local binaries or private CBT Cards data required.
metadata:
  author: "CBT Cards / MetalHatsCats"
  version: "1.0.0"
  homepage: "https://cbt-cards.github.io/skills/"
  source-id: "metaphor-18"
---

# The Slow Flame

## Purpose

Use this skill for one bounded self-reflection task. It is general wellness material, not medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, emergency support, or a substitute for qualified professional care.

## Use when

- The goal is safe but feels too large to start.
- A small repeatable first action is available.

## Do not use when

- The task is unsafe, coercive, medically risky, or a legitimate rest/recovery boundary.
- Small steps would be used to pressure the user toward an inappropriate goal.

## Metaphor boundary

This skill uses a metaphor as a memory aid. A metaphor is not evidence, diagnosis, treatment, or proof that a prediction is false. Do not use it to override real-world risk information.

## Procedure

1. Use the image briefly: a stable fire starts with small fuel, not with a demand for a bonfire.
2. Ask what the smallest useful action is.
3. Make the immediate goal the small action, not proof of eventual success.
4. Afterward, observe what was learned before choosing another step.

## Response contract

Return the metaphor in 2–4 sentences, then one smallest safe step and one observation question. Do not promise transformation.

Keep the response concrete and proportionate. Do not infer a disorder from the user's wording. Do not remove genuine safety measures, protective boundaries, accessibility aids, medication instructions, professional requirements, or legal/compliance controls.

## Source and review

- Source ID: `metaphor-18`
- Reviewed source-toolkit metaphor memory aid: https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/toolkit-source.json
- Marketplace record: https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/skill-marketplace.json
- Review authority: https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/toolkit-review.json
- License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

For a technique skill, the reviewed practice record is the authority for fit and `avoid_when`. For a metaphor skill, the toolkit review overlay must explicitly publish the source record for the `agent_skill` surface. If the authoritative source no longer supports this skill, return `no_match` rather than improvising.