It’s That Time Again…

Prufrock said he measured out his life with coffee spoons and I think I’m beginning to do the same with mine, except I’ve swapped cutlery for capital letters. Not too long ago, I was stressing about the Top Secret Writing Project. Now I’m on the verge of embarking upon the Invasion Of The Day Job 2012. And in a few weeks, Madame Persolaise and I will be off on this year’s Summer Get-Away. Time certainly doesn’t hang about, not even for people with Big Life Decisions to make (there I go again).

I suppose it’s precisely because I’m about to start this year’s IOTDJ (see above) that I’m slipping into a more retrospective mood. So far, this year has been busier than most, not least because of my book, (still scheduled to be released before Christmas, fingers crossed). But there’s also another factor that’s causing me to become more pensive: a growing awareness that the clock really is ticking and that the longer I wait, the harder it’ll be to turn my life in a different direction.

Regular readers will realise that I’m partly referring to my own perfumery work. It would be inaccurate to say that this has stalled completely, but it certainly hasn’t been progressing at full steam. I realise I shouldn’t be too hard on myself about this: after all, there are only so many hours in the day, and writing a book is hard enough in itself, let alone when you’ve got to juggle it with a day job AND fragrance creation. But I guess I’ve always been the sort of person who makes lists of the things I haven’t managed to achieve rather than those I have. Like most approaches to life, this one has both pros and cons: it means you’re always pushing yourself towards the next milestone, but it also makes it well nigh impossible to savour your achievements.

A few weeks ago on this blog, I wrote that some of Vero Kern’s and Angela Flanders’ perfumes project a sort of carpe diem quality. Maybe I ought to smell one of them and allow myself a moment to reflect on the many positives that 2012 has brought so far. But before I dig out my sample of Onda, I guess I need to make it clear that this post has essentially (but not exclusively) been a long-winded way of saying that I may not be able to blog as much as I’d like to in June and July; the Invasion Of The Day Job leaves almost no room for down-time. Having said that, I’ve got a few interesting things in the pipeline for you – including interviews with Olivier Cresp (one of the creators of Angel) as well as Jean Guichard (the head of the world’s most influential perfumery school) – so hopefully you won’t miss me too much.

Persolaise.