On smells and memories

Smell is a quiet sense. When we want to describe a scent we are short of words. We describe it by comparison: floral, mentholated, acrid, sweet, pleasant, unpleasant, resinous, woodsy, citric, fruity, nauseating, stimulating, aphrodisiac, seductive, etc.
Actually, smells forego interpretation. An odor can be extremely nostalgic, because it calls to mind powerful images and emotions. Sensations can be evoked through the nose as they reach the limbic system, which is our remotest memory, in less than 15 seconds!

“I vividly recall the smell of bread and cake that my mother used to bake for the afternoon tea for our apartment neighbors; of the banana paste and waffles, which I could not eat; the pleasant odor of lavender, so refreshing on my body. All this makes me think of the people we used to talk with, laugh with, and share both good and bad moments. And this makes me extremely homesick”. – Bia


Who cannot think of a memorable perfume? When we give perfume as a present, we are offering liquid memory.
Even Jesus received incense as one of his first presents. And who can forget Chanel No. 5, a classic of feminine sensuality, the perfume Marilyn Monroe “slept in”? Perfume subtly call to mind vigor; vital force; all the optimism, the hope and the passion of youth; seduction; enchantment; and involvement, regardless of age. Perfume has the power to render dreams, emotions, and sensations tangible.

Odors remain in the memory and, according to Rudyard Kippling, can speed up the heart rate better than images and sounds.
Who can forget the smell of freshly-baked bread from that special childhood bakery? Or the smell of guava trees, of magnolias or violets in bloom? Rosemary-scented sheets and pillowcases perfuming many a room? The pungent smell of vanilla cookies baked by Granny?
And a little on the intellectual side: would it be possible to read Proust’s beautiful “On Search of Lost Time” if we he had never had that afternoon tea with the famous “madeleines”? A fortunate marriage between taste and smell takes Proust, and the reader, on a walk down memory lane, through an actual tunnel of scented recollections.
And to conclude, some technical data: odors are there from the day we are born. A baby recognizes the mother by the smell. The mother is the closest connection, the source of security, affection, pleasure, nourishment, and hygiene. We smell odors every time we breathe, 23,040 times a day as we inhale 12 cubic meters of air. It takes us 2 seconds to inhale and 3 to exhale; a total of 5 seconds is the time it takes for odor molecules to flow through our system.
We are constantly surrounded by odors: those that enrapture us, the ones emanating from our own body, and those flowing around us. The sense of smell reaches its climax, with 5 million cells involved, in our middle-age years; from then on it starts to decline, as we get older. Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s normally lose the sense of smell along with their memory. Olfactory sensitivity is higher in women than in men, at any age.

On how to exercise the the sense of smell, nothing is better than Hellen Keller’s testimonial, the extraordinary American writer that was born blind:

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across a thousand miles and all the years we have lived. The odor of fruits wafts me to my Southern home, to my childish frolics in the peach orchard. Other odors, instantaneous and fleeting, cause my heart to dilate joyously or contract with remembered grief. Even as I think of smells, my nose is full of scents that awake sweet memories of summers gone and ripening grain fields far away.”

Perfume yourself. Perfume your body and the environment, always, and delicately. But do it!

Light up scented candles, scatter around perfume infusors or vases with perfumed flowers.

Think of aromas that bring to mind the best of life.

Take the Loved One to feel after-the-rain aromas, the fragrance of flowers, and the smell of recently mowed grass.

We recommend you do the following exercises – blindfolded or with eyes shut:

Play the game Who wears this perfume?

Get orange, lemon, eucalyptus, laurel or other aromatic leafs and crush them between your fingers. Then, ask the Loved One to identify the aroma. What about trying it with fruits (mangos, star fruits, bananas), flowers (violets, carnations, roses, camellias), spices like pepper, ginger, nutmeg? Or even beverages like wine, brandy, coffee?

Cook a very aromatic dish: what about the Loved One’s favorite dish? Ask him or her to identify it. There are excellent herbs and spices in the market to flavor food. Just to mention a few: basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, nutmeg, peppers (red, yellow, green, white, black), marjoram, sage, cinnamon, ginger, fennel, clove, saffron, paprika, cumin, mint, and many others.

And finally, sniff the Loved One, much in the northern Brazilian style, that is, an affectionate sniff. And not coincidentally, remember that the Inuit kiss by rubbing noses…