Happy New Year

The twists and turns of fate have complicated this perfumed trajectory once again. I announced that I would be working on the new website, which isn't really 'new' new, I've had it since 2017 but haven't done a thing with it, and now I think I'm going to get rid of it. I don't like Etsy, but I will be staying there indefinitely. This all boils down to money. Events have occurred that restrict the flow of money here, so tightening the bootstraps is in order. Honestly, it's probably something that should have been done a long time ago; staunch the flow of outbound cash and work on pooling as much as possible and holding onto it. Living with less has never been a huge problem for me. I was raised on less, taught to work with less, and learned to thrive on less. It isn't always pretty, and it's rarely ever fun, but it is doable, and as workable a situation can be, given the variables of ATTITUDES. It all comes down to attitude and what a person thinks they need versus what a person thinks they deserve versus  reality. I'm not here to preach, so I'll stop right there. Basically, I'm ditching the fancy-pants website and focusing on putting the money where it will do the most good for my wee perfumery.

I have no resolutions. Resolve/resolute, these words sound depressing. Resolute a little less so, at least there's some dignity in that word. Resolve connotes a problem needs repairing -- I don't want to think that the entire year was one of unresolved problems, so here's my silly resolution that I've given a date to fix -- New Year's Day, Twenty-whatever. Why can't I do it in June? Or not at all? How about I just make the changes slowly, or quickly, overnight, when necessary? Dates on calendars shouldn't dictate anything -- well, except taxes are due -- ha!

The trip to Brazil is still on my mind for many, many reasons. Mostly the people. I met a lot of wonderfully insightful and resilient people, some of whom are on my friends list now. I'm discovering daily that the translated books are slowly creeping onto bookshelves all over the country as well. I got a little write-up in Revista Olfacto, a perfume magazine in Brazil, so that's going to bring the books more widespread attention. Hopefully some revenue as well. I just wish I'd given the same attention to the English versions of the books that Laszlo and Ane and Marian and everyone else in Brazil who worked on them did. I've got the English version of Working the Bench II with an editor now. I may re-write parts of it and republish as an updated version, but that will be a year or so from now, unless I hustle.

I think this year I'm going to focus more on teaching and writing (and utilizing editors) and experimentation -- and writing (ah! a resolution?). I'm in the process now of adding more content to the Natural Perfume Academy's curriculum. I'm also interested in writing monographs for Laszlo in Brazil -- their Brazilian-grown oils are fine, fine, fine! -- and the world needs to learn about them.

The summer session at the Natural Perfume Academy is coming to a close, the spring just a few months prior, and the submissions I'm receiving from the students have been the most exquisite I've ever received. It used to be once a session, or even once a year, a student would really shine and submit something spectacular, but now it's become three and four per session, and not just spectacular, but stratospherically good, enviably good. I am blown away almost every time I receive a final submission. They are setting the bar very, very high.

I am looking forward to 2019 but not in a New Year, New Me sort of way. I see it more as an opportunity to further refine and define the work I've already done. Just more of it.

Happy New Year.


Comments

  1. Perspective, insight, personal growth and perfume of naturals. Cheers to you Justine!

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