Perfume As a Metaphor For Life

I am not alone in this difficult time as others like me continue to struggle in our everyday existence. We juggle our bills wondering who will send the shut off notice and who will carry you a month if their payment doesn't arrive.

It was under these conditions that I received a rare invitation to go to a benefit dinner for the homeless which I thought was a bit ironic knowing that if it wasn't for my generous landlady I would have found myself at the receiving end of such generosity.

It had been months since I'd had an excuse to indulge in all the things that make me a "girly girl" and I gleefully went about perfecting my appearance. When my look was complete I reached out for a favorite perfume that I had greedily hoarded because of its sublime fragrance purchased long ago at a time when money was abundant.

You must understand that this was not just any perfume. I've always been very finicky about any fragrance finding most of what's available even at the finer stores at whatever the cost to be foul and disgusting but this one was different. Not only did I adore the smell of this perfume but something about its scent brought to me extreme contentment and a sense of well being. Feelings that I had denied myself the pleasure of for sometime because of not knowing when I would again have the money to replace the precious elixir once it had been spent.

That being said you can imagine my disappointment when I went to inhale my perfume's luscious aroma only to find it had been so long since I had allowed myself the luxury of its experience that it had grown stale and less than what I'd craved.

I would have become quite amiss at the thought that I had protected this possession to the point of its chemistry being jeopardized but I had to smile and shrug to think how similar this was to life.

Rather than enjoy them, there are things we hold onto in life for fear that they will never come again or that we may loose them or never have an opportunity to revisit. These things may not only be possessions but might also be opportunities, rare occasions or associations. Indeed they might even include emotions and how we hold greedily within us our feelings failing to recognize that these things are to be embraced and sometimes shared because nothing is forever and why deny yourself the pleasure of what can be experienced now?

I learned from my perfume a valuable lesson and to recognize the importance of living in the moment, enjoying now because either you or it may not exist tomorrow. Do what pleases you today! Bake that cake, hug that kid, walk that dog, see that movie and by all means, wear your perfume before it's too late!

Millie Chalk (White Star Woman)

Professional horse trainer for 25yrs. and author of historical fiction. Part Cherokee Indian I'm passionate regarding the current struggle of all the first nations feeling most akin for several reasons to the Lakota. You can find more of my writing along with others at http://www.whispernthunder.org