A Stinky Story

This is a story about smelling bad.

For over a month, I was backpacking and sea kayaking through the temperate rainforests of Patagonia. Aside from an emergency satellite phone, we were completely cut off from civilization. It was absolutely wonderful...and smelly.

The first few days without a shower were very noticeable. But soon enough, we stopped noticing the smell. It's not that the smell went away, we simply got used to it.

Once the expedition wrapped, we began our trek back to base camp. A day on a boat, followed by 2 days on a bus driving north on a dirt road. We came upon a tiny convenience store and got so excited. Chocolate! Fruit! Anything fresh! We all wanted to rush in, but our instructor stopped us and said, "You all have no idea how bad you smell. You'll shock whoever's in there."

I got back to base camp, had the most glorious shower, and went back to the bus to grab my things. The smell almost knocked me over. Mere hours ago, I noticed nothing. Now, having cleaned off, I couldn't believe our collective stench.

Why am I sharing this stinky story? The same goes for stress. When stress is your baseline, you have no idea how truly unpleasant it is. You normalize it, but those around you notice it and have to deal with it. We've got to shower. And that's what we're doing when we meditate. Every time we sit down and close our eyes, we're giving our bodies time to scrub off some stress. The more we do this, the more we normalize bliss. And the sweet scent of fulfillment has profound effects on whomever you come into contact with.