It’s a simple story, like many others, but one I know well – for it is mine. And so, I know not only what happened, but also how it felt, which is the difference between information and experience. And I believe that experience is what we can share to help each other grow.

I have always loved scents: ambient smells, fragrant flowers and aromatic plants, flavorful food, perfumes – everything scent related. Scents were there to beautify my world, to give rhythm to days and seasons, to create special moments, to cheer me up when I needed to or simply as silent companions I barely noticed – but they have always been there.

And I have always felt grateful for them to be there, but in the same time I just took them for granted and never gave much thought to what they actually were, nor have I considered dedicating my life to it. Truth be told, I had no idea that dedicating one’s life to scent was even an option and nothing around me suggested it could be.

Then, one day, I crossed paths with wine – one of the most wonderfully fragrant natural products there is.

I wish I had some compelling story to tell about how it came to be, but I don’t have one – it came by chance and out of a sheer life’s necessity. It came as a result of me saying no to a situation that was safe, but deadly for me. It came as a challenge that I was scared to take up.

Up until then, I knew nothing about and didn’t care for wine. I found it intimidating, out of my comfort zone. But (helped by the lack of alternative options and mentally shaking all the way through) I took my chances. And it was love at first whiff (and sip). An incredibly rewarding journey began for me then, and a whole new world opened up to explore, a world in which I knew I wanted to stay forever.

The enjoyments one can find in the world of wine are many and varied, but for me the most exciting has always been the olfactory one.

It is while studying wine, and with the help of some most knowledgeable and inspiring individuals to whom I owe my wholehearted gratitude, that I got to know the ins and outs of the aromatic world. That’s where I learnt what scents and aromas actually are, what they are made of and how our sense of smell works. This added a whole new layer of interest and contributed immensely to my natural appreciation of all things fragrant, which has never stopped growing ever since.

And I was far from imagining where all this was going to take me. I simply let my love of scent carry me where I didn’t know I needed to be. It turned up to be a fantastic, although hard to control plan. But what a ride!

Scents are still there to beautify my world, to give rhythm to days and seasons, to create special moments, to cheer me up when I need to or simply as silent companions – whom I do notice, this time around, and certainly don’t take for granted.

For today, I’m fully aware of what they bring to my life and what my life would be missing if they weren’t there.

And though I have expanded my aromatic exploration beyond the realm of wine flavor, wine holds a special place in my heart. And I hope it will always stay this way. It’s where a fabulous journey began for me – an entrance point to a world which revealed myself to myself.

And what I take away from this scented adventure of mine, is that yes, life does have funny ways of leading us where we need to be. All we need to do is to cooperate. And to pay attention. The entrance points to a world of wonder are many, but they rarely bear a showy self-advertising sign.

Yet, if we stay true and committed to ourselves, we can not miss them. Deep down inside is something that sees clearly, knows unmistakably and, in its soft yet powerful voice, will always tell us. Always.