Our sense of smell can be very important in how we experience things. A bunch of the guys at work have gotten into the juicing craze and to quell their craving for foods, they’ve taken to smelling food instead of eating it. Apparently a good long whiff of my junk food can help satisfy some of their hunger for the items! To a certain extent, I can understand that, since we often smell things and start to experience it before it reaches our mouths. Still, there’s nothing quite like eating the food after smelling it, so their diet baffles me.
Their recent quirky behavior has reminded me of how intensely we can be affected by our sense of smell. One guy gets paranoid when he smells Febreeze, since that almost always comes from the restroom after someone has #2ed. Meanwhile, whenever he comes back from smoking, I tend to get a whiff of that, which usually gags me. Also, the office has a lingering musty smell from the dogs that hang out there. I’m sure those with dogs don’t really notice since they’re accustomed to it, but I’m pretty sensitive to it whenever I enter the building. I wonder if my cats make our household smell any different. Missy certainly can smell like kitty litter at times!
Of course smells also evoke plenty of positive memories and associations too! I love going home to the smell of cooking and I have this fantastic shampoo from the Hilton that makes me smile whenever I catch a hint of it, since it smells like a gentle perfume and reminds me of when Panda is in town. Similarly, I have a strawberry EOS lip balm that is succulent and makes me happy not just with its sweet scent, but also knowing that my lips will feel soft and hydrated. I don’t think I’d experience these things quite the same if I wasn’t able to smell them. Their scents really do help enhance the experience!
