Smell the Morning!

I was talking to Nick Ray recently about the African bush. It's something that we've both experienced close up and for extended periods. We agreed that after a while the whole feel and touch of the place really becomes ingrained, part of who we are. Then I said something that just slipped out naturally and seemed insignificant until Nick remarked on it. I was remembering what it was like to wake up in the bush after a night under the incredible stars of the African sky (something else I could go on about for hours!). I said something like, "...and waking up under a thorn tree and smelling the morning...". I was about to carry on but Nick smiled and stopped me.

I'd hadn't realised that just sitting there in my Wimbledon flat, I could smell the bush of northern Namibia. And how often do I smell the morning now? What do my mornings smell like now? The pleasant aroma of my morning coffee. The heavy industrial smell of diesel and petrol fumes as I stand at the bus stop. The rich smell of decaying vegetation on Wimbledon Common.

So this conversation, and memory, reminds me that there are many ways to experience the 'now'. Working holistically with clients I am often exploring their experience of the present including physical sensations, emotions, thoughts etc. But I've never considered the sense of smell. Perhaps it is not relevant in a stuffy winter counselling room. Yet, while working with clients in the Wilderness, it would seem like an ideal way of exploring the present. Another aspect of the vibrant, vivid now experience.

What do you smell in the morning?