Scent

Image by Anna Kumpan on Unsplash

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.” Diane Ackerman

Welcome Community of my Heart and thank you for coming here! If you like what you read, I would love it if you clicked the ‘like’ button, and comment as well if you like. Liking a post affects the algorithm and raises its appearance in the Substack app. Check out “Notes” on my main page too.

I have a finely honed sense of smell. It is one of the reasons, so I’ve been told, that I get migraines, and yet, I am in love with aromas and scents, those invitations to dive deeply into a moment of delight. Often, I am led into a memory that I have forgotten, an experience that marked signposts along my journey through this life. The odor of damp bathing suits hanging on the line on the lake-house porch, remembering September shopping trips for school supplies where I habitually sniffed the paper notebooks, the scent of my grandmother’s Chantilly perfume that brings me back to watching her perform her morning toilette before she began her day of baking and ordering groceries.

There are enticing scents, repelling odors, and everything in between. We all remember the first time we smelled a skunk, or how we salivate when we encounter the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread, and I can’t forget the first scent of spring, that thin metallic odor of soil waking up.

Michael smells like cookies, I wore Shalimar as a teenager, my Chinese herbs for my allergies smell dreadful, but they do the job! Laundry that dried on the line in the sun? Irresistible. Lemons? Fresh & clean. My baby’s head? I’m in love.

And then there are the unexpected scents: On my way to my mailbox I catch the distinct odor of the bacon and eggs my neighbor is cooking; as I pass through my garden my Star Magnolia beckons me with her alluring scent; the must emanating from a trunk closed up in the attic for 20 years; and the remembrance of recess during 3^rd grade when I smell Juicy Fruit or Teaberry gum. Remember that?

I love the scent of my massage oil that applied liberally before dressing guides me through the day whatever it brings. The aroma of onions frying as I begin dinner preparations is a siren call to work magic with leftovers in the fridge. The bar of Lily-of-the-Valley soap in my drawer greets me as I select my clothes for the day. The Nag Champa incense I light for my yoga students as they arrive for a transforming experience in my studio. And of course, the salty smell of the ocean, lulling me asleep at the beach house.

Aphrodite, the Goddess of the magic of sacred scents and holy oils, lives in my heart as I learn about and practice aromatherapy, creating blends for physical, emotional and spiritual use. The fresh scent of essential oils can be calming, energizing, uplifting, and inspiring.

What are your favorite scents and what memories do they conjure? I look forward to hearing your comments!