Last night I watched a darkly beautiful, and at times disturbing period film, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” (2006)
And found the film brought up a few thoughts on the subject of smell, and how we have become a modern-day society that tries our hardest to erase what is our “natural scent.”
We deodorize, we perfume, we clip and shave hair, we oil, and we powder.
To be honest I engage in these beauty rituals, as well because I too, “don’t want to stink,” rather I want to, “smell good.”
It’s our culture, a culture of the overly groomed.
But I fear something essential has been lost in that behavior.
Have you ever smelled your lover early in the morning?
Before they’ve risen; put your nose right to the center of their chest, closed your eyes, and inhaled their fragrance.
I have.
It smells like nothing known. It smells like, THEM.
A person’s scent is as unique as their genetic code, their personality,
“A person’s soul can be found in their smell.”
– The Perfume.
I breath you in and immediately smell fresh0cut wood,
an undertone of earthen, and the piquant sweetness of your sweat
…It is DEEP…
It makes me feel closer to you,
as if through your scent I know all that is you,
your essence, your heart.
I remember paging through my parent’s, “The Joy of Sex,” when I was far too young to be reading anything of the such, maybe 10 or 11. And I came to a chapter addressing the senses: sight, touch, taste, hearing…it read that the most potent of the senses, when it came to sex, is:
the OLFACTORY, smell.
From a small child I LOVED smells, particularly bodily-smells…good and bad, I didn’t differentiate, as long as it was, well SMELLY! I often sniffed all parts of my body noticing the small differences in each limb…I inhaled deeply my mother’s scent…powder, perfume, an acrid sweeter smell that was her own….I loved that one the most. Her essence.
As I continued the chapter in, “The Joy of Sex,” the authors revealed that hair on the body had the distinct purpose of “trapping” ones own intimate fragrance, and when a lover inhaled your unique smell…their sexual responsiveness was immediately heightened.
Although the book was written in the 70’s and today’s body-trends dictate a hairless or excessively trimmed genital region, I still seek my lover’s scent…all over.
More often than not, when I am making love…I find myself inhaling:
Their scent, on my scent, on our scent.
It smells delicious…like desire, like passion, and sometimes…if you’re with the right person…it smells like LOVE.
So, inhale deeply my friends…there is a smell for each and everyone one of us…even if it’s our own.
Xxx
c.
