“Keep me fully glad…”
- by Rabindranath Tagore -

Keep me fully glad with nothing. Only take my hand in your hand.

In the gloom of the deepening night take up my heart and play with it as you list. Bind me close to you with nothing.

I will spread myself out at your feet and lie still. Under this clouded sky I will meet silence with silence. I will become one with the night clasping the earth in my breast.

Make my life glad with nothing.

The rains sweep the sky from end to end. Jasmines in the wet untamable wind revel in their own perfume. The cloud-hidden stars thrill in secret. Let me fill to the full my heart with nothing but my own depth of joy.

The senses. I revel in them throughout my days. . . no matter where my physical body finds itself, there is always something beautiful to fall a bit in love with. I have never, ever appreciated the term ‘ugly’ as I believe that truly nothing is. There may be certain places or scents or sights that are less pleasing than others. . . or that create a feeling of discomfort and make me seek out something to counteract that unease. . . but really everything is truly beautiful at the core.

At a class last night on transforming negative energy. . . a core Buddhist teaching was brought to our attention- that the antidote to fear is beauty. And I realized how very true that is in my own life, when things are not quite right, or there is an element of unrest or fear. . . I look to all my senses to provide beauty of every kind.

I think scent is my favourite. . . as I’ve delved into a bit here and as people have pointed out- I seem to have a very strong connection to the smells of the world and a very intense appreciation for most of them. They are linked to joy, love, nostalgia and promise. I adore words, and thoughts and even whole books on the olfactory pieces of the world.

Especially descriptive words. . .

“U.S. wine critic Robert Parker, who in the 1970s invented the now-ubiquitous 100-point scale for rating wine. For decades, Parker’s approval and florid descriptions (“sumptuous aromas of lead pencil shavings, crème de cassis, incense, black tea, flowers, and sweet cherries”). . .”