{ smelling memories } - yogi. photographer. mama. dreamer. austin, tx

It started last week with the scent of a soy candle...




Nose to the wax, my face in your neck.
Your stubble on my skin, another night we sleep.
Lost so quickly, naive, and it's gone.
A candle to the right, standing by a La-Z-Boy.
Always his partner, always his fan.
Hugs, tobacco, and giant cowboy boots.

Face against my mat, 17 summers long ago.
Inner tube over my shoulder, trek down to the river.
From birth, to experiment, and to motherhood.
Wind with green, leaves so bright and fragrant.
We walked by day, haunted cabins and cemeteries.
Water to anoint, snakes and all.



What a miracle is this mind, that I can take in a scent and be transported to the cinema hosting my memories. The feelings and nuances so real, so tangible. Life in full force, abundant with experiences. I revel in how fortunate I have been to wake up to sensation, to know what the texture of my own skin can excite within me, to find the drip of sweat splashing to my yoga mat a reason to push forward, to look to the sky as I run and realize the earth holds me and propels me to move and love.

Moments in life where everything is alive and I am slow and conscious to see, taste, feel, breathe, smell, and completely fall intoxicated by the potion of pure experience. Lavender bath salt trickling from my hand into a warm bath, smearing a soothing balm across my lips, sunshine warming me and tinting my olive skin brown, this is living. Sidewalk shopping with good friends, the breeze on a bench while we talk and lift each other to higher spirits, lingerie of softest lace, lotion that smells of spice and cologne, sunglasses of golden age glamour, juice with ginger and pineapple, days filled with smiles.

As it turns out, one of my mom's favorite things to say to me (and what I hated hearing) is becoming entirely true for me... "it takes a boring person to be bored." - CTR
Mom, you're kind of right, I only feel bored when I am in a boring state in my own headspace, when I open my eyes and find my positive highest self, I find pleasure in the most unexpected places.