I was rummaging through the books in a second hand store last week when I found a book called ‘How to be Free’ by Tom Hodgkinson. It is all about living a simpler and freer way of life. In the chapter, ‘Banish Anxiety; Be Carefree’, Hodgkinson writes about the importance of feeding your mind with quality materials. A diet of good writing will produce quality thoughts and a self-sufficient, resourceful person whereas, newspapers and magazines do little to stimulate our mind (WQ, of course is exempted from this category). He goes on to write that feeding your mind with good quality ingredients, books, food and beauty will produce useful and beautiful things.

In the next Chapter, ‘Reject Career and All Its Empty Promises’, Hodgkinson writes that that we need to return self-sufficiency and creativity to our lives. Careers don’t allow us to be fully ourselves; careers take as an index of success money and status rather than pleasure in work and creativity. We have a duty to look into our hearts and discover our vocation, find our gift. Once we have done this, we will find that other parts of life follow quite naturally. So the next time you feel guilty about spending some time to yourself to write or to read a good book, remember these words.

The Scent Trail

The Scent Trail by Celia Lyttelton.

When Celia Lyttelton visited a bespoke perfumer, she realized a long-held ambition: to have a scent created solely for her. Entering this heady, exotic world of oils and essences, she was transported from a leafy London square to a place of long-forgotten memories and sensory experiences. And once drawn into this world, she felt compelled to trace the origins, history and culture of the many ingredients that made up her unique perfume. Celia paints a mystical, sensual landscape of sights, sounds and aromas as she recalls the extraordinary people and places she encountered on her unique Scent Trail.

Although not a book about writing, The Scent Trail, made me to reflect upon how evocative scents can be, especially when setting a scene in a story. I love to burn sandalwood when I’m writing as it draws me into the spice filled cities and shimmering deserts of my fantasy world. On a day-to-day basis, I prefer lavender as I find it calms my mind and soothes the soul. In my perfumes I prefer fresh, green notes, Green Tea being my favourite. Although the scent Arabie by Serge Luten with its melange of cedar and sandalwood, enriched with dried figs and dates, nutmeg, cumin and clove, as described in Celia’s book, sounds absolutely delicious and is on my hit list. I also love the smell of my daughter’s Avocado and Calendula conditioner. Infused with geranium and clove, I liberally apply it to her long hair after her bath. It seems to have a calming affect on the both of us and I just love breathing in its earthy notes as we cuddle on the lounge together.

Does anyone else burn incense whilst they write? If so, what are your favourite scents?