It is a phenomenon that has fascinated me since I was young. My fondest childhood memories of Belgium occur in a single breath. It happens because of a smell. "The Proust Effect" states that "whole memories, complete with all associated emotions can be prompted by a single scent or smell. Apparently, we do it unconsciously and can in no way be prompted voluntarily to experience this. In fact, many studies have shown that this "memory recall through smell" is enhanced if learning was done in the presence of the odor that we recognize in a moment of recall.
As I grabbed a washcloth the other day to wash my face with, the smell of the detergent was so familiar that suddenly I was not in fact standing in front of the bathroom mirror washing my face, but instead hugging one of my relatives in Belgium good-bye and forever engraving the smell of their clothes in my memory.
As I dined with friends two nights ago, I walked past the bar area of the restaurant to go to the bathroom. And suddenly, I was six years old again running around my aunt's bar - again in Belgium. If I had to describe the smell, you might all say I'm insane. . .but actually it makes perfect sense - - - a combination of cigarettes and stale beer.
Even the smell of exhaust combined with the right conditions reminds me of Europe or Morocco or even Venezuela. . .places where at one point I was surrounded by the same distinct air. It could be anything - somebody's cologne or perfume, the smell of certain foods, the smell of a certain soap, the truth is, even fresh air is reminiscent of something. Perhaps what amazes me the most is that - these memories triggered by smells - they are uniquely ours. If it has ever happened to you, I'm positive that the most you've been able to say is "oh my gosh, that smell reminds me of . . ." But as much as your friend would love to share that memory with you, nothing can instill in him or her the same feeling that rushes through you in that very moment when you breathe in and suddenly you recognize that smell. It is not merely a smell, but a reminder - "an experience that causes you to remember something".
It has been happening a lot to me lately, so I can't help but ask myself... Why does it happen when it happens? Is it really just a memory? If so, then why do we hold on to certain memories more than others? Why do we remember certain smells more distinctly?
Is there some mystical explanation? - - is something out there trying to remind us of something that we have abandoned? or is it reminding us, trying to bring us closer to something that has abandoned us?
Saturday, April 01, 2006
remind Airs
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3 comments:
Hola baby. Did you know that you moms smells is the one that you will never forget in life?
And mom is able to difference her baby from maybe 30 babys just by smell?
Yes. We have it there. We usually don´t use our senses. In this society we lose all this contact with nature. It is a pitty in fact cause our more precius weapons are our senses and we keep then on a dark and wet closet for a long time.
When you practice some outside activity like trecking or climbing you feel that in peace with yourself cause you are able to use all of them so you don´t get hurted.
Society is changing us in so many ways. But we have to remember where we come from and what our needs are.
Why a blind guy can smell more than us. Cause we doesnt have the most used sense nowadays: sight
In martial arts they teach you how to train the forgotten senses and then you became different cause you are closer to the environment.
hello there miss guidi. excellent subject for discussion. it's amazing the little things that bring back memories which you didn't even realise you had... i wrote a similar thing about music a few months ago. i was interested in how a song or an album can contain so much. you hear a piece, and memories long forgotten come flooding back coupled with all of the emotions you had attached to it - tears, laughter, etc... there is so much that our mind does that we don't even know... my favourite smell induced memory is when i smell a coal fire. when i was but a wee lad coming to england i loved the smell of coal fires. i smelled one recently, and like you said, you fly back 20 years and enjoy those memories again... amazing.
Gavin, that is so funny, because coal fires remind me of Belgium also. I can totally relate.
It's like, there are only few smells that can take you back to those few places.
It's been a while. . .let's catch up soon. Hope London is treating you well.
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