Psychology of Smell

Thanks LeBrok, Merry Christmas to you too....
Merry Christmas to everyone.. and to those who don`t celebrate Christmas per say..good wishes..:)

Happy Winter Solstice, Hope. As I always say, let's put the "Sol" back in "Solstice". Although Merry Christmas if that's more your cup of tea.
 
Along with music, certain smells evoke some of my strongest emotional reactions. Also, is it just me, or are the ones that trigger the strongest emotions those that are connected to childhood?

When I was a child, I used to spend a good many hours dreaming away the hot August and September afternoons in the green-gold, dappled shade of my nonno's grape arbor, and the "grapey", sugary smell of the ripening fruit hanging just out of reach has never left me. Closer to the coast, the salty scent of the sea, mingled with the sweet smell of roses and the spicy smell of carnations, of lavender, and wild rosemary and thyme and sage, is seared into my brain. In certain places, depending on the direction of the wind, you could sometimes catch the smell of sea pines, and in still other places lemon trees. At the hottest parts of the day, I swear that you could even smell the scent released by stone and terra cotta and plaster when they are baked by the sun, or taste/smell the acridness of burning metal. When I return to my childhood haunts and I smell all these combinations again, I invariably get misty eyed. Sometimes I'm rather tempted to do as the Pope does, and fall to my knees and kiss the ground.:) The very dust has a Mediterranean smell to me.

My "escape bags" in the event of hurricanes (or the Zombie Apocalypse!:petrified:) contain a copy of the collected works of Shakespeare, my Dante, and my Montale. No one describes our area the way that he does...
http://partyofone.typepad.com/poemarium/2009/08/eugenio-montale-i-limoni-the-lemon-trees.html

I have wonderful "scent memories" of the northern U.S. as well, although they are more "subtle", and not the sensual barrage that I associate with the Mediterranean. I love the "new" snow and fir tree smell that accompanies a big snow fall. There are few things more marvelous than the combination of those smells and the visuals provided by an unending expanse of undulating, pure white snow under a clear blue sky, all the while breathing in that pure, crystalline air. One of my favorite things to do is to go for a long walk by myself right after a major snowfall, when it is all still hushed and silent, with the only sound coming from my own footsteps. (Yes, I have my anti-social moments, where "I just vant to be alone, darling.":LOL:)

There's also a smell that I associate with sudden thunderstorms, especially in the summer. I had a terrible inclination, as a child, not to be frightened by thunder and lightening, but to be excited by it, I suppose, and I loved that combination of the boom of the thunder, the sense of electricity in the air, and then the release of the rain pouring down, and the smell of grass and soil that accompanied it. My mother apparently had to close and bolt the doors because I would invariably try to run and sit underneath a particularly big tree on the property. (I must not have had a very strong survival instinct in that regard.)

Like almost everyone, I assume, I love the smell of certain foods too, like baking bread, or the smell of sweets in the oven that are made with vanilla and cinnamon. The smell of certain foods means home to me, and family. When we moved to the northern U.S., with its heavy snowfalls, I used to walk home for lunch. (I was, of course, one of the few who took the opportunity to do that.) On snowy, blustery days, I would open the door to the smell of boiling milk, and sugar, and vanilla, and lemon from the hot "rice soup" my mother would make for me on those days. Roasting meats spiced and herbed in our traditional way also mean home, as does the smell of my mother's meat sauce for her holiday ravioli. Then there's the smells associated with holiday foods. It's part of what makes the holidays such a bittersweet time of year for me, because they all evoke my parents, and grandparents, and uncles and aunts and cousins, so many of whom are gone.

That's the strongest, most emotional smell of all, I think, the smell of certain people, compounded of their own particular aroma and whatever scents they habitually wore...

I think that's ingrained in us, "hard wired". I've mentioned before the scene in the Costa Gavras movie "Z" where the wife shatters while smelling her assassinated husband's shirt. I've never forgotten that scene. I've kept some of my mother's and father's clothes, and I swear they still bear their scent. My own children maintain that they never smell "Red Door" on anyone without thinking of me.

Ah well, now I've made myself sad, and I didn't intend it. It's all good in the end, however. This is the stuff that makes us human, and all so connected to one another, something of which we should remind ourselves, I think, especially when we spend so much time thinking about our differences on Boards like this one.

Oh, and whatever you celebrate at this time of year, or whether you indeed celebrate nothing at all, my profoundest best wishes to all of you and to all your loved ones.
 
@Angela.... I also have a few pieces of my mums clothes, small things such as a blouse and her favourite gloves. I don`t need them to remind me of her , but like you said, there is a still just a little scent of her perfume on them....nostalgia is good for you.....
[The perfume she used was truly awful unfortunately.....:) ]
 
Maleth, put Nana`s vase somewhere safe for ten minutes, turn up the music and circle away..not only will it benefit mind and body, but it`s also..plain good fun...:LOL:

I will I will, now that my tree is all set up and flickering......these Led type are so much nicer :)
 
I’ve always wondered about this topic. My stepdaughter has never had a sense of smell for as long as she can remember, and she also has an absolutely horrible memory (both short and long term). We use special techniques just to help her study for tests and I’ve always thought it could be related to her lack of smell.

She does have exceptional hearing though. Could hear one of those sonic egg devices that people use to deter dogs from barking, yet she had no idea the device was even on in another room in a house she never been to before. Strange and interesting.
 

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