The smell of freshly baked bread transports you to your mom's kitchen. The salty scent of the sea returns you to a special vacation. The delicate fragrance of a rose reminds you of your first bouquet. These are all examples of how scents can bring the past to back to life. Our sense of smell is a unique link to memories, good or bad, pleasant or painful, happy or sad.
Sometimes it's little smells too, just polish on furniture takes me back to my childhood....
ReplyDeleteSmell is such a powerful memory trigger!
ReplyDeleteMy dad wore "Old Spice" aftershave. I always think about him when I catch a sniff of that almost forgotten scent.
ReplyDelete@Linda Medrano - Hey, my dad wears Old Spice too, NEVER anything else.
ReplyDelete@Linda R - Chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon toast, coconut suntan oil.
The sense of smell is the strongest trigger without a doubt. And it hits sometimes with such surprise.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that is SO TRUE. I could do a huge list of smells and what they remind me of, bread, Christmas baking, bus fumes... all kinds of things.
ReplyDeleteAnji- I catch a whiff of something that will bring back a memory. It really doesn't have to be much.
ReplyDeleteMeleah- Yes, good, bad or otherwise.
Linda- At this time of year, a trigger scent is burning leaves. We can't do that in the city so I don't smell it often.
Nicky- For me it's Coppertone (the original). It smells like summertime in a bottle.
Denise- I had a cold once and lost my sense of smell for a while (maybe 6 months). It was sad walking into the house at dinner time and not know what was cooking.
Katherine- How about the smell of the ocean? I know you love it there.
I sometimes get a tiny whiff that transports me back to my childhood. I have no idea where the aroma came from, or what it reminds me of, but it's such a strong connection.
ReplyDeleteIf we could only bottle it :)
Babs- It would be nice to be able to bottle up the good smell memories.
ReplyDeleteThey say that smell is the sense most strongly linked to memory.. and I sure do believe it.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting as I read what you wrote, I lived my own memories via the scents.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memories:~)
Happy or sad, yes, that is so true.
ReplyDeleteOur oldest and deepest sense I hear? And we smell thing we are not even aware of which affect us too.
She almost cried at the
smell of the wood floor oil
in the old hardware store
but laughed at the popcorn
and Linda's roses wafting from
great gardens of friendship.
A quick poem from me for you here on the spot today!!
xoxo
Hilary- I do too! The tiniest whiff can stir a memory.
ReplyDeleteSara- Most welcome. It is indeed an important and powerful sense.
Jannie - Thanks for that delicious poem. You whip 'em up good.