Paco Rabanne Black XS

I don't mind hospitals. However with that being said, hospitals do tend to evoke very strong emotions in me. It can be a place of healing and recovery, while at the same time existing as an institution of death and decay. Drastic words, I know, but not necessarily untrue.

Walking down the post-op hallway after my mother's surgery I couldn't help, but notice this duality of life and death. Healing contrasted with decay. Within the span of 20 feet I witnessed an older woman sobbing uncontrollably and a heavily bandaged young man grinning from ear to ear as he spoke to his surgeon. I suppose you should expect to see these things at a hospital. The wide array of emotions. However on this particular day the contrast was so evident. Maybe it was the fact that someone so dear to me was enduring their own battle. Straddling this great divide of life and death. Decay and healing. Maybe I had become delirious from being in the hospital for four days straight. Maybe it was the realization of my own mortality.

I vividly remember having a conversation with a nurse about my fragrance. She caught some of my scent trail and asked what I was wearing. I suppose the sweet berry accords stood in stark contrast to the medicinal and antiseptic aromas wafting throughout the floor. It was the only time during my five days there that I discussed anything besides my mother's care. It stuck out to me at the time, and still does to this day, because it was in such close proximity to things of much more importance. Life and death. Discussing what scent I was wearing seemed so trivial, but at the same time provided so much relief. That interaction was like an oasis in the middle of a vast desert of uncertainty and confusion.

The conversation with the nurse ended nearly as quickly as it started. I believe someone started to code a few rooms down from ours. As my mother started her path to recovery, someone else's path was ending. Or maybe it was starting over. I never found out.

Written By: Sean O

Scent: Black XS by Paco Rabanne