Memories in Scents.
“We are all human, and our senses are quicker to prompt us than our reason. Every man gives off a scent, and that scent tells you how to act before your head does.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Episode 55.
Bailey Street. Canton, MA
2002
The front door creaked softly as I passed over the threshold into a shag-carpeted, wood-paneled living room. "We will paint the kitchen and replace these broken mini-blinds, but the rest is as-is - $1375 a month, not including utilities", the middle-aged man huffed over his shoulder.
I barely heard him as I was bombarded by flashback reels in my brain- our old house down the Cape. It was not the layout of this house or any visual draw, but the potency of a very distinct smell that brought me back, at warp speed, to our modest 3 bedroom Cape house. Without even conscious thought, my feet carried my directly to the bathroom, as if I was hover-boarding over the floor, a fierce impulse to investigate this invasion of my olfactory sense that had instantly transported me back to childhood summers at 327 Millstone Rd.
I did not love that rental on Bailey St. New mini blinds and paint were certainly not deal-makers. And it was expensive for a 2-bedroom in 2002. But I immediately asked to sign the lease, my decision completely impelled by the nostalgic scent of childhood bliss on Cape Cod. I somehow disregarded the fact that my fiancé at the time had not stepped foot in this new abode, but we ended up moving in the following month, based primarily on the strength of my nasal captivation of some bathroom soap.
There is science behind smell. You have likely heard of studies demonstrating the deeply rooted connection between sense of smell and memory. Scents are directed to an integrated area of the olfactory bulb, nerves, and branches of smell receptors, intertwined with the amygdala and hippocampus, regions of the brain related to memory and emotion.
Smells can have such a profound effect on us, that we can be driven to seek out connection with others based on smell, and repelled against others by the same persuasion. Our primitive sense of smell has protected us from death- avoiding ingestion of spoiled or poisonous food; has led to procreation- pheromones are a real thing; and afforded us pleasure in tasting our food- I bet you can conjure up the taste and smell of your grandmother's lasagna or a baking apple pie.
There are now proven tactics in the practice of sniffing that can engage areas of the brain to build and preserve cognition, increase focused attention, and improve muscle strength. (Link here for full nerd-dive into smell and taste with my trusted friend, Andrew Huberman, from Stanford.)
For each of us, there are smells that trigger a barrage of memories, entrenched in a global rush of familiarity...
Chlorine...not a specific moment, but a colliding of competitive swimming tenure- pools and practices and meets and coaches; once that file cabinet of recollection is opened, I can render the Ridgewood YMCA, where I started as an 8 & under, District Championships at Dartmouth College, Swim Camp at Brown University, high school pool home meets, and a million swim team scenarios in between)...
The smell of cooking bacon and pancakes brings me directly to Amy's house- to countless sleepovers, awakening on her finished basement's sectional couch, plaid comforters spread between 4 girls, who may have slept only 2 hours the previous night- 7th grade reminiscent of "chatting" through the night, and then high school "sneak outs"- returning just in time to catch the morning bark of the family dog, Jasper, and wafting breakfast scents from upstairs...
...the smell of lilies= funerals... the smell of a sleeping bag, unrolled after being stagnant for a season or a decade= camping trips with my Dad... the smell of fresh mulch= a summer job lifeguarding at a neighborhood pool... the smell of honey ginseng green tea= writing my Master's Thesis in a Barnes & Noble Café in Tucson, Arizona... I could go on and on and on, and I'm sure you could too...
Smell is an intrinsic, systemic, dynamic, integrated sense; a sense we may take for granted, or may realize has waned in intensity as we have aged. Smell makes up our experience. Smell propels us to past events, and may set a path for our future. Smell is our children, our parents, our pets, our romance, our sustenance, our embrace. If you can smell, feel gratitude. If this sense has been muted, know that this is a very somber loss to grieve.
In a few weeks, I will return to the Cape- to a different house, with different scents. I will be surrounded by the love of my very spirited extended family. I will appreciate the smell of The Cape. I will savor all my senses. I will recognize that my future memories will be alive with whatever smells abound during these special Cape days with my family. I will not take a moment, or a scent, for granted...
Love, with heart and nose :-)
Jessica
Cousins at Cape House Memory 1986
Chlorine Memory 1987
Chlorine Memory 2014.
“A good fragrance is really a powerful cocktail of memories and emotion.”
― Jeffrey Stepakoff
“Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.”― Patrick Süskind
”The act of smelling something, anything, is remarkably like the act of thinking. Immediately at the moment of perception, you can feel the mind going to work, sending the odor around from place to place, setting off complex repertories through the brain, polling one center after another for signs of recognition, for old memories and old connection.”– Lewis Thomas
”The olfactory system, anatomically, is right in the middle of the part of the brain that's very important for memory. There are strong neural connections between the two.”– Donald Wilson
"To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which you have even if you have nothing else."
-Baltasar Gracian
"Breath by breath, let go of fear, expectation, anger, regret, cravings, frustration, fatigue. Let go of the need for approval. Let go of old judgments and opinions. Die to all that, and fly free. Soar in the freedom of desirelessness. Let go. Let Be. See through everything and be free, complete, luminous, at home - at ease."
-Surya Das“When your real, effortless, joyful grateful nature is realized, it will not be inconsistent with the ordinary activities of life.”
-Ramana Maharshi"When I'm running fast, I don't feel anything, it's effortless, it's like my feet don't even touch the ground, it's like I'm flying."
-Evelyn Ashford
Do it all with Love. Nothing is promised. But everything is workable.
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