“When I was a boy, I thought scent was contained in dewdrops on flowers and if I got up the morning, I could collect it and make perfume.” -Oscar De La Renta
The most underrated sense that we have is our sense of smell. Whether it is the smell of food at the ready, fresh flower blossoms on a tree or the scent of someone leaning in to kiss you, our sense of smell wakes up one of the most primary functions in the brain. Where we process scent in our olfactory bulb is actually built into the limbic structure of the brain where memory, sexuality and emotion is located.
It is an interesting crossroad, where emotion and sexuality meet. Inspired by scent, my experience of the deep connection I feel for my husband and where it inspires the arousal mechanism between us is one of the best moments in my life. Walking through springtime meadows does almost as much good for my tired brain. Today I inhaled a variety of magnolia blossoms that lined the park route that I walk. Was it the scent of flowers, the warm sun or emotional connection to my dear friend walking beside me that made that moment unforgettable?
This is the great joy and mystery of focusing your emotional life around your nose. It grounds you and connects the neurological pathways that influence both your current emotions and your memories. Scent is one mechanism that we allows us to heal the past in the present.
“My garden, with its silence and pulses of fragrance that come
and go on the airy undulations, affects me like sweet music.
Care stops at the gates, and gazes at me wistfully through the bars.”– Alexander Smith
