What is the Perfume Project?

This blog is a constantly evolving forum for thoughts on perfume, perfume-making, plants (especially orchids and flora of the Pacific Northwest) and life in general. It started out chronicling the adventures of Olympic Orchids Perfumes, established in July 2010, and has expanded in other directions. A big part of the blog is thinking about the ongoing process of learning and experimentation that leads to new perfumes, the exploration of perfumery materials, the theory and practice of perfume making, the challenges of marketing perfumes and other fragrance products, and random observations on philosophy and society. Spam comments will be marked as such and deleted; any comments that go beyond the boundaries of civil discourse will also be deleted. I am grateful to all of you, the readers, who contribute to the blog by commenting and making this a truly interactive perfume project.

Thursday, January 31, 2019

No Excuses, No Resolutions

January is gone, so it’s just as well that I didn’t make any new year’s resolutions. I wouldn’t have kept them anyway, and it’s nice to just chug along keeping the day job and businesses going and enjoying the fact that we don’t have below zero weather as most of the US does today. 

Even though I have no real housecleaning or de-cluttering strategies, I still want to continue divesting myself of the enormous piles of perfume samples and other samples that have piled up in my studio, taking up space that should be used for work. I know other people can enjoy the samples, so will keep offering the now-traditional drawings for 100 g of samples, and occasionally other things. 

The one form of self-discipline that I will try to follow starting in February is to spend no more that one hour every morning on e-mails, social media, and reading the news, and no more than  another hour at night. I know that it’s all too easy to just sit at a screen for hours, idly surfing from one place to another. After a while it gets redundant, and not even enjoyable. I also know that it serves as a displacement activity that blocks my doing something more useful that takes more effort. 

Here goes with the first random drawing in a long time. Just leave a comment saying what activity you voluntarily do to such excess that it becomes unproductive and no longer enjoyable. 

The drawing will be held and the winner announced on Sunday, February 10. 

[Photos of snow on tree from several years ago, and photo of our cat spending time on my laptop are mine.]

23 comments:

  1. I spend a lot of time on different blogs and sites reading about specific perfumes. It ends up being more of the same after 4-5 articles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, everything starts to get redundant after a while. You're entered in the drawing as "unknown #1".

      Delete
  2. Way too much time binge watching on Netflix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kate, I try to avoid Netflix, but occasionally get sucked into something my husband is watching. You're in the drawing.

      Delete
  3. I listen to so much music that i somehow drown it out while getting lost in my own thoughts and it becomes a background noise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harley, I have the opposite problem - if there's music playing, it takes precedence over whatever else is going on. You're in the drawing.

      Delete
  4. Too much time looking for deals on ebay thats for sure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lishy, I try to steer clear of E-bay because I don't have time to watch and bid on things. You're in the drawing.

      Delete
  5. spent too much time reading reviews about things that i want to buy but rarely use them when i possess them. urgh....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is certainly true of perfumes! You're in the drawing as "unknown #2".

      Delete
    2. yup! Kasey is my name. big fan of your perfumes <3

      Delete
  6. My time was lost looking for organizers for my clutter, instead of downsizing. I'm not perfect, but getting better at donating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary, that's so true! Organizers for clutter become more clutter themselves. You're in the drawing.

      Delete
  7. I spend so much time on social media, like you! Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Trace, social media - the ultimate time sink! You're in the drawing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I tend to get lost going down rabbit holes when I'm looking up something online. Researching can lead me to hours of uncovering irrelevant, tangential information. Interesting, but ultimately pointless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anne, this is so true. I do exactly the same thing. Once in a while it isn't pointless, so the rewards keep the addiction going. You're in the drawing.

      Delete
  10. I find myself binge watch shows on Netflix/Hulu just because they’re immediately available. if I need to wait a week for a new episode, I’ll usually lose interest particularly for a mediocre show and not finish. The Netflix model “forces” me to watch the whole thing and several hours later, I wonder why I wasted all that time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Triniti, I've never done that but see how it could waste a lot of time. You're entered in the drawing.

      Delete
  11. I find myself on Instagram, looking through the pictures that come up and it has become so boring! Yesterday I just put stayed off of it for most of the day. I am going to go back to the way I was before I got on social media 2 2 years ago, and stay off of my phone, unless I get a call. My life was way more productive then!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nelle, I think all our lives were more productive before social media. You're entered in the drawing.

      Delete
  12. I do everything in excess, until I quite suddenly grow tired of it and jump on some other train instead. Self-dicipline? Never heard of it...

    I even do this with food! I'll get a craving for goat cheese or something, and then I'll eat it every day until I suddenly can't stand the sight of it. Cashew nuts is the current obsession.

    ReplyDelete
  13. LaDomna, I operate the same way you do. The problem is that sometimes something gets going, like a business, it's hard to jump the train. I'm trying g to do that with the orchid growing - we'll see if it works. You're in the drawing.

    ReplyDelete