Smells, Beautiful, Good, Bad and Ugly
What part do smells play in your life?
My sense of smell is very important to me, not just in the moment, but as a reminder of the past, a calming presence, a warning of unpleasant things and much more. There are many articles outlining the process of ageing and loss of our senses, including smell. I will try not to wake up the rabbits 🐇 and bore you all with facts, figures and scietific jargon, however I will reference some interesting facts.
I don't know about you but as I grow old I think more. If a memory is prodded and woken up I ponder and wander down memory lane until everyday activities crash into my thought. Many things get me going and smell is important. Nina Ricci’s L'Air du Temps takes me back to Paris in the 1970s, the smell of leather soap on a saddle takes me back to the freedom of hacking on my favourite pony on a summer day, the smell of asprin makes me wretch, the smell of the salty sea takes me to Skiathos and countless other wonderful holidays with John and the kids, freshly baked doughnuts - New Orleans beignets. The list is endless. Surprisingly sometimes I conjour up the smell in my mind to take me somewhere special.
Why are memory, emotions and smells so interlinked? Simple there are direct connections established by the olfactory bulb and piriform/olfactory cortex on two structures involved in emotion and memory, namely the amygdala and hippocampus. Memory and Plasticity in the Olfactory System: From Infancy to Adulthood ok not quite so simple so I’ll leave you to dive further into the badger 🦡 den if you are bored later.
Proust has even got in on the act and started to help unpick the links, through his novel In Search of Lost Time, 1913–1927 through the Proust Phenomenon - named by psychologists and neuroscientist. Since the novel was published they tried to understand the scene describing how the narrator was transported back to the village of his childhood through the smell and taste of a sip of lime blossom tea mixed with crumbs of petite madeleine cake was so powerful. The article Smell and memory – The Proust Phenomenon in BPS magazine The Paychologist confirms we ‘now know that odours are better cues in triggering autobiographical memories than other stimuli.’
The marketing business recognises the importance of smell - see the Harvard Gazette article What the nose knows Experts discuss the science of smell and how scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined — and exploited. The article quotes the goal of Dawn Goldworm, co-founder and nose, or scent, director of what she calls her “olfactive branding company,” to create “immediate and memorable connections between brands and consumers.” Her website 12.29 clearly states: Modern brand storytelling is not complete without emotional engagement which is a natural and acute byproduct of a scented experience. I remember years ago an Estate Agent advising John and I to have coffee perculating or baking a cake when prospective buyers came round. Firstly, when I was pregnant and the smell of coffee turned my stomach, secondly no way do you want to smellmy burnt flat offerings.
The loss of smell as we age is discussed in countless articles and the bottom line appears to be that the numbers on your birth certificate are not enough to explain any loss alone. Factors such as medication, illness, brain injury, damage to your salivary glands are more relevant, something we all learnt through Covid. Clearly as we age the factors build up to impact on our snouts. The science is moving forward and in the article The Nose Knows: Study Suggests It May Be Wise to Screen For Smell Loss to Predict Frailty and Unhealthy Aging Hopkins Medicine consider new research that does seem to indictate olfactory dysfunction is a common early sign of brain-linked cognitive decline, the new findings suggest the link to frailty is likely not just in the brain but also in the nose itself. However they consider more research is necessary before our ability to smell is tested in the same way as sight and hearing as we age.
One last thought smell is an incredibly useful tool in a writer’s amoury, one that is often overlooked. Point to self in notebook add smells.
I will leave you with a couple of smelly quotes:
“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.” – Helen Keller.
"The beauty of fragrance is that it speaks to your heart and hopefully some else’s.” - Elizabeth Taylor
Prompts for you to use anyway you wish.
What is your favourite smell? Sit for a minute, close your eyes and take yourself back to the time you first smelt it. Open your eyes and describe everything you can about the smell, the emotion, the place and anything else.
Quickly list your 5 worst smells and in 5 words say why.
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Yikes! My sense of smell is exceptionally sharp, my husband's appears to be declining. Just like his 'intentional' hearing...
L’Air du Temps takes me back! The smell of puppies, vanilla , lavender and tea roses are my favourites. The small of carnations not so good as it takes me back to morning sickness whilst pregnant with Hannah !