M was over a few weeks ago.  She was curious about my perfume making and asked to smell some.  What’s really interesting here is that for as long as I’ve known her she was anosmic — which hasn’t stopped her from having and wearing, faithfully, the same perfume for years.

As I shared with her my growing collection of trial formulas and my first (and so far only) full-fledged perfume compositions, I told her which was my favourite . Then I showed her my favourite perfume — Opus Interlude Man. I only own a sample given to me by the very generous owner of GIO, a niche perfume shop in Livigno, but it’s enough to keep me dreaming for now.

I told her I want to make something like this. “But why do you want to copy someone else’s perfume?” she asked in surprise. “I don’t want to copy it, M, I want to create something that moves Soul the way this perfume moves me — that’s my goal as a perfume artist, that’s what I’m aiming for in skill.  I want to make scents that allow individuals to transcend space and time, perfumes that allow the wearer to perceive more fully their present moment, that amplify the now into the endless possibilities that are already sewn into the fabric of their lives.

In order to do that I know I will have to dig deeply into myself to develop the kind of courage it takes to move beyond my own limitations – real or imagined.

Today’s quote is from page 3 of Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.