Scented Candles, Enjoying Life, and Yogananda
February 18, 2024
8 min read
•
Newsletter
{Body}
Using incense and scented candles to unwind
Smell is such a powerful sense, being deeply linked with memories of home and safety.
Humans’ use of fragrances and perfumes has gone back millennia, at least as early as 1200 BCE.
Historically, scents have been manufactured straight from plant oils using a variety of natural methods.
Things have shifted in the modern era.
Behemoth chemical companies can now recreate these aromatic chemicals from scratch.
Unfortunately, there is more and more research suggesting that these synthetic compounds are disrupting our hormones and poisoning our nervous systems.
In fact, it’s known about 95 percent of chemicals used in synthetic fragrances are derived from petroleum (crude oil), including benzene derivatives, aldehydes, toluene and many other known toxic chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions.
{Mind}
Tips for enjoying life more?
Google Dictionary gives the following definition of enjoy: “to take delight or pleasure in an activity or occasion.”
Synonyms include: “like,” “love,” "be fond of," and “to bask in.”
I believe this is an incorrect definition.
Why, though? If you’re enjoying the cup of coffee, isn’t that basically the same thing as saying you’re liking the cup of coffee?
No, it’s not the same thing.
Think about other words with “en” as the prefix: enmesh, entangle, encapsulate, enhance, enchant, engage. What do all of them have in common?
They all bring a certain quality into an experience.
For example, to “enliven a party” means to *introduce* life into the party.
Same thing with any of the “en” words. Enforce means to introduce force. Encode means to introduce code. Enrage means to introduce rage.
En-joy should mean the same thing — it should mean to introduce or infuse joy into whatever you are doing.
Do you see how revolutionary a flip this is?
Enjoying as previously defined was a passive endeavor in which you lived out your niche preferences.
Enjoying as newly defined is now an active process of choosing to place joy into what you are experiencing.
If you can make that switch in your mind — if you can realize that enjoyment *itself* is a choice, rather than a byproduct of choice — life becomes much more fun.
{Soul}
Simplicity begins by knowing what to own.
Things are nice, but only because of the value you give them.
You don’t actually love the heirloom diamond your grandma passed down to you, you love the story it tells and the wonderful feelings it inspires in you.
Understanding this, it is wise to only own things you actually appreciate, and not those things that simply look nice, but that bring you little to no joy.
Simplicity then expands into knowing what to think.
Information is never-ending. We can certainly try to wrap our minds around complex histories and present-day dramas, but we will be eventually lose that battle — there’s simply too much to any one topic.
Said differently, there is very little value in identifying with complex thoughts, as there is no end to them.
Instead, the simplest thoughts you can think are those of gratitude. And that is because they ask nothing of the present moment — they are complete in and of themselves.
February 11, 2024
Previous
February 25, 2024
Next
