PHOTOGRAPHY, LIFE EXPERIENCE, MINDFULNESS
Spirituality — Peace, Purpose, Perspective
In response to Dancing Elephants prompt 13 of 52
Fragrance.
I am enjoy fragrance — eucalyptus-infused mountain air, coffee beans, perfume, baby lotion, incense cone, a freshly baked cake, petrichor, camphor, cinnamon sticks, clove, curry leaves, pine forest, aromatic oils, so on and so forth.
They are just like my lavender-scented memoir of dreams.
I fondly remember how I would store bits and pieces of agarbatti (incense sticks) pack cover into a tiny plastic container and carry them along to school. My school bag used to smell divine. My school buddies used to wonder how could my bag smelt so good, every day…and I would reply, Jaado (magic)!
Good ol’ days!
Maybe from there, I managed to pick up and connect spirituality and fragrance in my own convincing way.
Spirituality is not religion. It is a path for us to generate happiness, understanding, and love, so we can live deeply each moment of our life…- Thich Nhat Hanh
Talking about childhood, I could see whenever there used to be any religious congregation or prayer meets or for that matter, our daily puja (worship) at home, there would be fresh scented flowers around, candles, incense, you know, happy things.
My Maa (mother) would always say that I need to turn my room (or wherever I pray) into a place of positivity by keeping it impeccably clean, airy, well-lit, and scented.
If I do so, I could concentrate more, connect more, and could do good to others along with doing good to myself. And that I have followed suit. I didn’t question it because I could feel that doing so brings peace and solace to me in the first place.
Now it so happened that one beautiful evening, my husband gifted me a box full of fragrances.
In case you are wondering, the box was full of organic incense sticks and incense cones (Phool, Phool means flower). I was thrilled and delighted.
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper- W.B. Yeats
The beautiful fragrant box consisted of organic incense sticks of two varieties — Lavender and Indian Rose; and organic incense cones comprised two varieties — Nagchampa and Jasmine.
I immediately lit one cone of the Nagchampa variety in my place of worship at home. Believe me, my space remained soothingly aromatic for hours together.
The best part of these varieties is that they are made from huge temple flower waste. And then carefully handpicked and painstakingly hand rolled.
To know more about the noble initiative, please have a look at:
With handpicked fragrances, the charcoal-free, the organic and biodegradable collection is perfect to relive happy memories. These fragrances are believed to stimulate our brains to create dopamine — which is responsible for making one happy, motivated, and satisfied.
It is considered that enriched with antidepressant and antibacterial properties,
# Indian Rose- accelerates focus;
# Lavender- relaxes mind and body;
# Nagchampa- fills the air with positivity and
# Jasmine- transcends one to a happy place.
Each incense is handcrafted by women flower cyclers from temple flowers and 100% plant-derived ingredients.
The initiative started with just two people a few years back in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India but now it has generated employment to many underprivileged people providing healthy and happy livelihoods, recycling 8.5 tons of floral waste daily, and stopping the harmful practice of dumping temple flowers to the river.
This is a video of the workers at Phool how transforming the temple flowers into organic colors that are being prepared for the ensuing festival of colors, Holi. Have a look (English subtitles provided:)
Fragrances, with rich symbolism and esoteric meanings, are strongly associated with human emotions, well-being, and cultural practices.
Going for a walk in nature, mindful breathing, being grateful, and burning incense is probably some of the thoughtful gestures that I wish to do more frequently. The more I do so, the more I feel connected. And the more I feel connected with myself, nature, and holistic well-being, the more I turn maybe spiritual.
The perfume of the flowers and of the bay tree are wafted on high, like incense. The birds sing sweet songs of praise to their Creator. In the tops of the trees, the soughing of the wind is like the hushed prayers of the multitude in some vast cathedral. Here the heart of man becomes impressionable- William Wendt
What is Spirituality to you? How do you feel about Spirituality? I would look forward to reading your perspective.
Disclaimer: This write-up shared is solely picked from the writer’s life experience. There is no intention to promote or advertise any product through this. Thanks for your kind understanding.
If you want to read, refer to and participate in the weekly prompts of the pub, Dancing Elephants Press, please go ahead to the publication’s front page, there is a section with the title of the Dancing Elephants 52 Weeks Live Book against a blue-colored rectangular box.
Click on the first option and you see:
Thank you Dr. Gabriella Korosi for the wonderful prompt. Join DEP Prompt 13/52 from the link. Hearty thanks to the entire team of DEP and the editors, Dr. Preeti Singh, Sharing Randomly, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
A few magnificent write-ups for Prompt 13:
Stay beautiful. Stay spiritual. Life is indeed beautiful.
You may would like to go through my take on spirituality:
