The pathos of things / The poignancy of things

A refreshing grapefruit sling garnished with juicy magnolias - shaken, not stirred.

'Mono No Aware' is a key term in Japanese culture and, loosely translated, means the appreciation of things/objects based on the awareness of their transience. I first encountered the term Mono No Aware in Sally Mann's autobiography. The term immediately resonated with me because, ever since I can remember, I've had that feeling of happiness and sadness when, on the one hand, you realize that all things exist only temporarily, and, at the same time, you feel so much awe that you were allowed to experience them. It's the constantly repeating cycle of holding on and letting go. On a philosophical level, I've never had much use for terms like memento mori or vanitas. For me, the denial of the material world isn't synonymous with enlightenment or liberation, but rather with fear, which I associate with callousness, indifference, and apathy. Therefore, I was overjoyed when I discovered Mono No Aware, finally a term that felt natural to me. Yes, loss is sad, but let's not say it's better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all, et voila! And on the level of perfume, the experience of perfume inherent in Mono No Aware begins to disappear the moment you spray it, and that's part of the beauty of perfume 😉 This perfume is an ode to that feeling and to the culture that gave us the term.