Random tip of the day: Every time you travel, bring a small bottle of lotion (or the male equivalent) with a specific scent. Try taking along a different scent every trip. Whenever you catch a whiff of that smell, you’re immediately transfered back to the place that you last put it on. For instance, the orange-ginger Bath and Body Works scent takes me back to the fragrances of San Francisco in February, where I learned to see the beauty of the world again after a tragedy.
Scent is powerful, even when your olfactory senses aren’t that strong (as is the case with me). This isn’t limited to lotion. The smell of patchouli still makes me think of the music studio I visited with my family when I was 12, and the house in Portland where we stayed on tour last summer. Whiffs of marijuana smoke evoke memories of organic farms in Washington, and the streets of downtown Portland and Amsterdam. If I ever catch a hint of goat odor in the air, I’m transported to the warm stables of Jean le Moine.
Whenever you travel, take the time to smell a specific scent, deeply and intentionally. You’ll be amazed at how powerful the nose’s memory is.
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Doing the same thing with music works too. Every time I hear Enya's ''The Celts'' I think of riding the train in West Virginia. Celtic Woman's ''Newgrange'' makes me think of riding the train out west. And Enya's ''Tempus Vernum'' makes me think of differential equations. It was my favorite song at the time and I put it on repeat for hours while I did math homework.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! I have an album that reminds me of each one of my trips: "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Viva la Vida" for Bellingham, "The Beauty of Innocence Remains" from tour last year, "Love" for Europe…
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