“Back in the day,” we had a whole row of light lavender lilac bushes growing along the tall wooden fence in the backyard. I used to burrow underneath the heart-shaped leaves to sit with my back against the fence, reading a mystery novel and immersing myself in the sweet fragrance.
Today I sit on the front porch, surrounded by that same fragrance, in quiet meditative melancholia. “They say” the olfactory sense is the sense our memories are most closely linked to, and I am nearly overcome by the plethora of memories, some happy, some sad, accompanying the smell. My heart aches with a strange longing for things I have never even experienced.
Today I made it a priority to stop and smell the flowers, to give in to my emotions, to feel the feelings. I invite you to do the same. What long-lost people, places and things will come flitting through your mind? Take some time out now to surround yourself with your own special memories. Breathe them all in and hang on tight
