I’ve always loved the idea of wabi-sabi.

“Idea” being the operative word. In reality, I tend to replay obsessively all the alternative scenarios that could have prevented the need for repair in the first place. In the end, it’s resignation that leads to acceptance of the fact that I can’t unbreak anything.

Perfume is, in a way, wabi-sabi in a bottle. Without destroying the form of a flower at its most beautiful aesthetic, we would not have its scent wonderfully captured in a liquid essence. The same goes for citruses and woods. Never mind the pinenes—byproducts of the paper industry—that birth a kaleidoscope of aromachemicals that we employ to recreate beloved smells.

Perhaps this thought can bring us a step closer to acceptance.

The best things in life are free. The second-best things are very, very expensive.”

—Coco Chanel