Running Errands
This is about what's in a word...
Sometimes sauna sessions can be a full on trip. Like the other day, when I was laying there thinking about words and the power they have to create.
Between first words where parents are cheering on “dada” or “mama” or “dog.” And final words when people are holding hands and clinging to every last syllable. Messages of connection. Learning. Assigning meaning. Codes within etymology and what falls short in translation. This worldly experience is created and destroyed by words.
I’ve been introducing visitors to the perfumes that I’m going to be releasing this Spring. When I realized that the project that led to the creation of my first fine fragrance was turning into something more than a temporary hyper-fixation, and that it was becoming its own house…the name was important. I chose to call the perfume house SIMA. This is my middle Hebrew name, a very old name that is also a name in Persian, Indian, & probably other languages, too. But in Hebrew it means “precious treasure.” It’s indicative of embedded treasure of the earth. It felt fitting to reclaim this part of my identity, while unearthing a long held love (albeit, sensitivity) for scents that connect us to memory. Names are important, names are words, names are codes embedded with significance.
All my perfumes have stories. And what I’ve noticed from offering my “show and smell” experience to visitors, is that these stories are very powerful. Not just for giving context for experiencing the scents themselves, but for the individuals receiving the stories. It’s like my stories relate to their stories and there’s a web of meaning alchemizing between us, via aroma molecules. The first time someone got emotional during one of these sessions, I was a little taken aback- it was interesting to me that something that felt special to me in order to understand the fragrance- could land in such a particular way for the person hearing and smelling what I was showing them. But this became a more regular pattern and it made me realize that the stories woven through SIMA are just as critical as the scents themselves.
In Hebrew, the word for “Tree” and the word for “Advice” share a root. Literally, they’re one letter apart. As someone who loves trees, hikes in the forest, and tends to be partial to woodsy olfactory notes, this makes sense to me. Trees are the silent wise advisors, witnessing and guiding our lives. I write about this often on Tu Bishvat, the Jewish holiday of the trees. But when I was musing about this in scent formulation terms, I knew I wanted to make a beautiful scent that had this linguistic message at the center.
As I worked on the scent formula, I suddenly had a vision of my long-departed Grandfather sitting in the corner of my living room. He looked calm with his cute thin blue metal framed glasses with a gentle smile on his face, and he was smoking a pipe. Now, I don’t know my grandfather to have smoked a pipe. But that’s how he appeared. Grandpa Solomon was a quiet, wise, successful man. And whenever he spoke, everyone wanted to hear what he had to say. I remember the last time I saw him during a family gathering, something made me ask him what his advice for us all would be. He was quiet for a little while and didn’t immediately answer. The conversation went on, and it wasn’t until we were getting ready to leave that he called me over and said just a few words. The crux of it was “love each-other and take care of each-other.” I wrote the exact words down but everyone in the room paid attention and I’ll always be grateful I thought to ask him that question at that time. When I had this vision of him, I realized I wanted to use this scent to be an ode to our ancestors of blood and ancestors of wood. The advice that we can glean when we get quiet and pay attention. I added in tobacco, oud, and- despite not liking when perfumes smell too much like vanilla- a touch of lactonic vanilla. I named this scent A Lineage of Advice. It’s stunning. It’s fresh and captivating, the dry down turns glowy warm and resonant. I’ve already sold out of the samples I made for the “show and smells” in person. But it wasn’t until I was telling this story and showing this scent for the first time that I realized something even more wonderful. My grandfather’s favorite food was ice cream- often vanilla. This scent was absolutely guided to completion by him.
When I was in the sauna the other day I closed my eyes at one point. From the intense blazing heat on my skin, and the sound of the trees rustling in the wind, I mused that if I was describing this feeling I could have easily made it seem like I was in the hot sun, by the ocean. This is where words can be tricksters! And this is where scent can be the discerning sense. Hot cedar wood and the faint smell of cold air or decaying leaves. But I thought about how in this world of dualities we work our whole life to define and describe and connect and express. With words. Love letters. OpEds. Scientific papers. Fantasy novels. This essay! We learn colors, codes of conduct, time tables. That nouns can become verbs. And verbs can become nouns. And yet, when the final words are written or uttered, what’s left? What’s done is never done. Beyond this world of words and codes, I kept thinking about how so much of this experience is about love- sharing it and feeling it.
I finished my sauna session, came inside and went about my morning.
When Adam came home he told me he was talking to someone about running errands. He said, “and then I thought, where does the word errands come from?” I laughed and looked it up. Errands comes from the old English word arende. Which means “message” or “mission.” This used to mean that someone was out delivering a message, on a mission. In modern usage it was expanded to include any short trip to complete a task.
I told Adam about how the timing of his wondering was funny, since I spent my time in the sauna thinking all about words and meaning, how they can both forge and fall short of this task.
But I guess that’s it, isn’t it?
It’s all true, isn’t it? Your words and mine and all the ones ever expressed, begging to be received. Sometimes they fall short. Sometimes they grow into something bigger than their fumbling parts.
We’re all running errands.
Hi Max, Your "what's in a word" was fun with intentional flair. Enjoyable to read. Maybe words and spells are coupling to keep us abreast of how we can continue to express love.