On the Scent

Sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. The five senses. Of all of them, I believe smell is the most underrated. It's capable of bringing peace and joy in a whiff.

There are those who have discovered this, of course, which is how aromatherapy was born. I am a convert to the whole massage thing, especially when I experienced it with my sense of smell.

There is an old experiment where you close your eyes and talk about every sound you hear. That's when you realize all of the stuff you don't hear. This is equally true of what you smell. Except that it's harder to discern what you are smelling. For example, you know what your own home smells like, so you think it doesn't have a smell. But it does. If someone blindfolded you and took you somewhere familiar, you'd know from inhaling just where you were. I realized this as a child when I would go into my friend, Linda's, house, which was exactly like ours. It was built by the same builder, had the same number of rooms, etc. But it smelled different. If you dropped me in her house today, I'll bet you I could tell you I was in her house without peeking.

Life is full of wonderful smells that we experience every day without thinking. Many of these are triggers. Folgers realized this with their commercial about waking up to the smell of coffee. Bacon is pretty good to wake up to, too. They tell you to bake an apple pie while you are showing your home to prospective buyers. And the smell of yeast dough rising will always make me think of my Mom and the amazing things she baked.

Then there are the herbs and spices. Lavender, cilantro, thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, oregano.

Not to mention flowers. Lilacs take me to a place in my childhood. My mom used to give me the flowers to wrap up and take to my teacher. They smelled amazing.

Of course, there are the not-great smells. Skunk, burnt popcorn, body odor. And smells that can save your life...smoke, gas. I guess everything in life has its yin and yang.

The point is, there are lots of great smells if you take the time and effort to enjoy them. So, close your eyes and take a breath. What do you smell?