most beautiful top ten: smells

I was walking out of a very long and intense deep tissue massage night – one that unearthed a number of emotional muscle memories and gave way to tears and much deep breathing through painful painful trigger points. With the release of the tissue came a release of magic, though, and big open love… and as it turned out, an intensified sense of smell, or at least a deeper appreciation for what I smelled as I walked out the door: tomato plants! 

Tomato leaves must be one of my all-time favorite smells and as I was thinking about beauty and blogging on my way to the car, I thought why not make a list of my ten favorite beautiful smells? So here goes (in no particular order)…

1. Tomato plants – something about the sweet, earthy scent of the leaves especially take me back to my mother’s garden and instantly clear my head.

2. Grapefruit rind – I once did a month-long meditation retreat that included long stretches of silence and it was after one of these multi-day stretches that I took a grapefruit out of the fruit bowl, scratched and smelled the rind and simply sat down and cried… cried for all that was beautiful in the world and for my good good fortune to experience it, especially with the raw heart of retreat. 

3. Rose oil – I suppose that would mean roses, but there is something especially potent and powerful about very high-vibrational essential oils, and especially old-world turkish rose, that can open my mind and heart in an instant. There are so many essential oils I love, but rose is simply the smell of love.

4. Skunk – That’s right, folks, I LOVE the smell of skunk at night… probably for it’s nostalgic throw back to my days growing up in small town/rural Michigan where skunk was just part of the smell of summer and starry nights.

5. Baby skin – Who among us does not adore the smell of a baby’s skin? Yum.

6. Marijuana – Though I don’t partake… ever… 😉 the smell of quality bud, like Trainwreck, has got to be one of the most intoxicating smells on the planet. No wonder rastas use the stuff to get closer to God.

7. Boulder – Yep, the town. One of my first memories of Boulder is arriving from the airport at night, getting out of the car and meeting the damp pine-filled air with disbelief. I didn’t know a city could smell so good!

8. Juniper – In my spiritual tradition, we burn juniper as an offering and purification, the smoke rising to let the gods know where a blessing is requested. It’s the best part of gin, too!

9. Earl Grey – probably because I just love the smell of bergamot, but maybe just as much because I love the taste of a good floral black tea with milk and honey.

10. The fresh-shaven cheek of a man – Now, I couldn’t very well write this list without talking about the powerful smell of a lover, could I? Hell, fresh-shaven or three-day to three-year scruffy, the cheek of a man I love is one of the best and most welcomed smells on earth. Yum.

~ by HeatherArtLife on September 13, 2008.