Hello, and welcome to the first blog of many.
My intentions with these blogs are to give increment nuggets of information about scent and its purpose, and to also illustrate how scent plays an important role in lives, including mine.
Scent is a peculiar concept.
The science and stories of scent’s influence on who we are.
Our olfactory sensory is the only sensory we, as humans, have that goes directly to the intended parts of our brain. Our other sensory factors (sight, sound, etc) go through the relay center (the thalamus), sending these signals to the cerebral cortex for processing, and only after all that processing will those neural signals finally be distributed to their intended parts.
Whereas the olfactory sensory will be relayed directly to the cortexes of entorhinal (memory system) and/or piriform (processing odor perceptions) cortex and/or the amygdala (processing emotions), as explained in one of my favorite books about scent.
Within this blog, I will be briefly touching on elements of my own memory system and amygdala.
Sure, I’m an aromatherapist, but deep down, I’m just a person that is passionate about scent. In fact, before I began giving my gifts and talents to others, I gave these gifts to myself. As a teen, I was fascinated by how smelling a particular scent could transport me back to younger years.
Do you have a scent that reminds you of your childhood? Maybe it’s a smell of sheets being hung-out to dry in the summer; cut grass, pine during Christmas. Scent has a different story for all of us. In the coming weeks, I will be writing about how we can design our own memories with scent… but I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, I’m going to give you a personal story of my own about scent and a memory in time.
When it comes to scents, I enjoy replicating scents above all else.
Last May, I was seated at my table with essential oils: testing, inventing, exploring. It’s one of my favorite pastimes for myself.
A little dash of this; a couple drops of that; a very tiny hint of this … and BAM (!)!!! I was suddenly transported back to my summer of 2022.
On July 21, 2022, I was on a road trip through the countrysides of France heading towards Reims.
A 400-mile, 5-hour trip from the border of Switzerland to the heart of Reims along the A-numbered and E-numbered highways surrounded by panoramic views of sunbaked fields of waist-high grasses blowing in a southern direction. Tall grasses bleached yellow from the sun and dry heat that edged the roadside, and in a short distance beyond the crispy remnants of grass lived vivacious manicured vegetation maturing to be readied on a traditional French table setting: lined with perfectly pressed linens, bread plates, and a ceramic pitcher of rustic wildflowers; or at least that’s how I envisioned it.
Along the trip, I was surprised to see so many windmills. I was envious of the French; to live and breathe in a country that knows the value of superb quality of life in its simplicities and sustainable living. The concept of Psych-Scent Emporium was yet to be born. In fact, it would be another year before my brain would venture into the conception of it, but I have always had a passion for sustainable living, and it was a delicious surprise to see a culture that shared my views.
It was a beloved experience.
That French road trip defines and embodies who I am as a person. If I close my eyes, I can still remember the hues of the blue skies while passing the occasional centers of small French towns.
And just like that, a dash of this and drop of that immediately transported me to the countrysides of France. Among the few captured scents, I can spotlight the 3 that are my favorite: Flouve, Amber Rose, and French Lavender.
Is there a memory or a moment in time that you would like to bring back to life through scent? Send me a note.
Or send me a note about an experience you had where a scent transported you back in time.
