I didn’t set any perfumed resolutions for this year, so I have none to say I achieved or broke, but this was the first year that I recorded my “scent of the day” each day. It wasn’t a hassle at all and although I’m prone to wanting to fit patterns once I detect them forming, I didn’t really do anything I wouldn’t have otherwise. This year, I wore 168 unique scents from 63 different brands. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of these fell in the “Floral” category. I’m not sure if I was hoping to find my preferred genre from this exercise, but the stats are mostly artifacts as I wore a lot of samples, many of which I didn’t even particularly like, and Fragrantica’s categorizations seem pretty arbitrary sometimes (and often nonexistent for newer fragrances). Within the “Amber” category, my most-worn subcategory was “Amber Floral.”

Yes, I like flowers in my perfumes. Rose and osmanthus. I’ve grown to love iris/orris this year. Other flowers as supporting characters or in a well-blended bouquet.

This year of cautious optimism has also turned out to be one of time distortion, as I look back on events and can’t always remember which ones happened this year versus past years. In many ways it was insular for me, as we did not travel very far or for long at a time. We were able to enjoy the moment on a smaller scale.

I’ve watched more old shows than new ones; same with books. I spiraled into a material-focused frenzy that climaxed around Thanksgiving, consisting of scouring online selling sites for clothing and accessories that have been discontinued for years because either I have not found anything better since they were current way back then or I did not know about them until recently. I’d like to think I’ve finally—after a disproportionate amount of time and effort spent—got everything I’ve been looking for now that is able to be found in current circumstances, and am ready to embark on a no-buy for non-essentials in January 2023.

We just got back from a winter holiday in Arizona to visit extended family. I love the desert landscapes—the saguaros, yuccas, agave plants, cholla cacti, prickly pears, shaggy bark juniper trees… the pines and cedars are alright as well. I tried to sniff some of them but they tended to keep their odors to themselves.

Again, no New Year’s resolutions per se for 2023, but I would like to sweat the small stuff less and get out more.

Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year to all!