Day 344 in Beijing: A Rose, By Any Other Name…

 

Two roses.

Two roses.

Would smell as sweet.

I would love to agree but I have no sense of smell.

This is a sad fact since I was in a car crash when I was four years old and have no memory of what is a smell.

I can guess what a smell is because I can taste, albeit, I believe around 50-60% of what most people taste.

Therefore, being a vegetarian is quite easy, as I’m not as tempted by the wonderful smells of bacon and other foods that people seem to crave.

I also am not tempted to go into a dessert store because I don’t smell cookies or cakes being baked when I walk by.

The other benefit is I don’t smell the horrible smells from the sewers and drains that often accompany living in big cities.

Living in San Francisco, Beijing, Oakland, and so many other big cities, this has proved to be quite wonderful actually.

I don’t mind it, that much, because I think of the other senses I could have lost, especially my sight, and I was lucky enough only to lose my sense of smell.

This is part of the behavioral therapy I do also: Instead of focusing on what is wrong, look at what you have and what wonderful benefits your “loss” gives you.  I have learned not to complain very much and to try to find the best way out of a problem and it has given me a lot of skills and experiences that I never would have received if I had accepted the negative and given up.

Jill, on the other hand, has an amazing sense of smell and loves roses.

She enjoyed smelling these roses and walking by them.

Spring has definitely sprung in Beijing.

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