Let’s paint a door right here. A door with an entire universe on the other side: breezy, radiant, waiting for us, wagging its tail with excitement. This universe has always been here. It takes different forms throughout the day, giving us glimpses of its vastness, of how incredible it would be to step inside. But we rarely do: we’re not used to it. No one ever taught us how.
This is the universe of smell.
Let’s shift our focus to the most neglected sense. Let’s reflect on why we find it so fascinating and so scary at the same time. On why it sometimes repulses and sometimes attracts us. On why we can’t help but experience desire through our noses.
Let’s explore this sense spherically. That is, considering the different areas it encompasses, the different spaces it connects to in historical, scientific, artistic, spiritual, sociological, and anthropological ways. Using our sense of smell to filter reality, our past, our present, and wherever the future may lead.
When we smell, we don’t only smell. When we smell, we visualize colors, we receive the taste of salt in summer, we feel the brush of our mother’s hand, we hear the murmur of the trees, we remember childhood. A scent isn’t merely a scent. When we smell, we engage in an intense neural activity. We open a door onto our memories, onto life. And we can choose to access it, acknowledging all the inner strength we exhale outward.
So what if we thought of fragrance as a still unexplored tool, one powerful enough to blaze trails? Deciding what I want to smell—and how—is a manifestation of intent.
Let’s use this space as a gathering of experiences and experiments with smell. Let’s explore. Let’s build bridges and create a synesthetic/sensorial circuit. I’d love to show you what I find so fascinating about perfumery. I’d love to share the experience of scent: the personal and collective realms that permeate the act of smelling and being smelled. And I’d love to express why I think it’s so important to be present in this act.
We all have noses. Smelling is free. We’re all invited.
I’m offering up this nasal megaphone so that we can all use it and keep each other posted on what we find along the way. Make yourself comfortable, close your eyes, and inhale deeply through your nose. We’ve crossed the threshold. We’re on the other side. All we have to do is start to smell each other.
Lula