Choose Your Scent.

The one that lingers.🌬️

Uamuzi unaweza kuwa mbaya, haswa ikiwa unahusiana na Upendo.

This means, “Indecision can be messy, especially when it has to do with Love”. No, I don't speak Swahili. It just felt like a good idea to begin the letter like that for a change.😂 A bonus point is that I'm not particularly confident in the accuracy, but I choose to trust Google today.

I love earrings. I love perfumes. I'm currently deciding which one to use for my illustration. Okay, perfume it is. I Love Perfumes. I am in love with perfumes. They make me feel so alive. If you follow me to a store to buy perfumes, make sure you do not have any place you're rushing to go.

Now, I go into the store and I start to try out many perfumes — different fragrances. I do that for a long time, smelling the fragrances until I smell myself into confusion. I'm pre rich, so I usually avoid financial mistakes. I cannot buy all, I'll have to pick one within my budget. The truth is, most times I settle for the one I'm familiar with, so I don't end up picking out of confusion. Making a bad perfume choice is actually really painful for me, so I take my time. I actually do take my time and I don't need the shop owners to suggest for me. I know what I want, they don't, and I don't want anyone to, “people are rushing this one. You should buy it” me into buying anything. Do you feel me?

Am I writing this to tell you about my perfume life? Yes, but not necessarily. I'm just trying to paint a picture of your love life or mine. Who knows? You already see where I'm going. Don't you?

Your life is the perfume shop. The perfumes are the love options you are faced with. Everyone with their unique traits, abilities, mannerisms, personalities. You can't be with everyone, no matter how good they are. You can't settle down with anyone you do not want, and you cannot judge based off how they look. I mean, facial prowess is good, but facial prowess doesn't always equate to sweetness.

I've made a bad perfume choice before. An OG like me. I saw the make of this bottle and automatically thought that it would smell sweet if the company put that much effort in making the bottle so queenly. Boy was I wrong. I've not worn it until today, it's still in my bag.😂 Will someone else like it? Yes, I actually think so, but the fragrance is not for me.

It can be a mess, I know. I've been there like mad. “I'm just confused” “This guy likes me, but there's this other guyyyyy. I don't know what to do again” “Omo. The girl is perfect, but I'm not sure if I love her as much as I love this other person”

But I've come to realize that love is a decision. A decision tailored to your experience and preferences. So out of all the options you have, you will eventually have to pick the one you think is best for you. He/she might not be the sweetest, the warmest to other people but to you, this person is everything.

Just the way some people do not love oud perfumes and others are in love with them. Just the way people love Pink Yara, but others find it too feminine. You see? There will always be options. Options that might look befitting until you smell them or wear them. You must go for the one that gives you an “aha” moment! The trick is, it might not come in them dramatic bottles. It might be gentle, soothing, sweet, lasting. Other times, it might be strong, masculine in a gentle way, endearing. It's your call to make.

It's confusing, and I feel you, my gee. I know you do not know what you want yet. The different human fragrances are deeply luring. I know they are all good people, and it feels like you are between the devil and the Red Sea but chill. TAKE YOUR TIME. It's a decision you will have to make. Don't make a fuss about it and decide to settle for what you don't want. Don't be ashamed to go through the shelves again and again until you get what you want. You might find something new, or you'll end up sticking with the fragrance you're familiar with, so you don't go back home and regret what you picked.

Did you follow to this point? I hope you do not make a wrong fragrance choice and I hope you know this isn't all about fragrances. By the way, what fragrance do you wear?🌚

Let me leave you with this sweet sentence in Swahili.

nitajua ni wewe kwa jinsi unavyokawia. It means, “I know it's you by the way you linger”. So, choose your scent — the one that lingers.

Love,

Hosanna.💜