We’ve all been transported somewhere else by the smell: the fragrance of magnolia in brand brand brand New Orleans, a cologne that is ex-lover’s the G train, faded perfume embedded in to a sweater. Our olfactory memories are particular and visceral, because fragrance may be the feeling many linked with our memory and feeling. Perfume, like our garments or precious precious jewelry or hairstyle, is an automobile of pleasure and self-expression.
It may also work like a type of armor—an protection that is olfactory the entire world.
When I became a community organizer in Bushwick, I’d end workshops with a meditation and scented oil blend that other organizers applied between their palms and inhaled. This moment ended up being everyone’s favorite area of the workshop: Organizing ended up being emotionally taxing for them, but few spoke freely about their psychological state; self-care arrived after social justice. Incorporating fragrance into our work allowed a separation that is brief life’s struggles.
For females who’ve been in jail, numerous facets of self-expression are stripped far from them. Read more…