Scented Memories

[morgs]

It's amazing how many long, seemingly forgotten memories our brains keep stored away. Usually we would never have access to them, until we are told about those particular moments in time, or...

we smell them.

Why just last night I was getting into bed in my brand new pajamas (I wear old man pajamas, wanna fight about it?) and as soon as I caught a whiff of the new material, I was instantly reminded of being in a particular place, and reading this book, in quite good detail too. I didn't even have to think back, one sniff and I was automatically thinking of this book.

I have some others, but I can't think of them off hand, or off scent should I say.

What are your scented memories?

 

[Danny_ZQ]

From the title I thought this was going to be about scented candles. Anyways I was eating some delicious fish n' chips when the scent of the fish reminded me of my old cat Dudley. He was a plump white cat who batted my face when I tried to nap.

 

[Vegeta897]

Okay, there is a perfect Breaking Bad clip for the subject of this thread, but I don't think it's on Youtube.

 

[Edeslash]

How about the other way around? Whenever I think about New York City I can feel the strange smell of pretzel stands. These 'unreal' sensations fascinate me.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Every so often we'll get new airmen straight from Basic, and god almighty they have a smell that you just can not miss. I guess it's sort of memories.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Yeah, I get these scented memories as well.

More common for me is to have a song "imprinted" with a certain point in my life. Not as nice as it sounds, as some songs remind me of times I would rather not revisit... :/

 

[Krynn72]

The smell of rain always calms me down and reminds me of the cottage my family used to own in New Hampshire. Whenever we went there, it was like a week of pure bliss. No responsibilities, no planned events going on, just sit around chilling all day on the porch overlooking the lake in our back yard. I'd sit out there even in the rain. Probably the reason why I always feel so much more comfortable and calm when its raining.

I also have memories when listening to songs. Anytime I hear a song from Oleander's album Unwind, I think about Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, because I listed to that album on motha****in' loop for hours while playing that as a kid.

 

[Vegeta897]

No responsibilities, no planned events going on, just sit around chilling all day on the porch overlooking the lake in our back yard. I'd sit out there even in the rain.

Sometimes it's like you're trying to tell us you really are a dog.

 

[Tacoeaterguy]

My scented memory would only be appropriate for the Anonymous Confessions thread, and now I can't submit it there either.

Also I can't think of any other ones, but I'm sure I've encountered many.

 

[Raziaar]

Every so often we'll get new airmen straight from Basic, and god almighty they have a smell that you just can not miss. I guess it's sort of memories.

You say that like you're not still a rookie, ace.

 

[Acepilotf14]

You say that like you're not still a rookie, ace.

I can speak pashto at a really basic level, I'm far enough away from bmt I can speak of it fondly

 

[Naph]

I made a previous thread of this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

 

[KiplingsCat]

The smell of this particular brand of suncream reminds me of when I went to visit Dachau concentration camp. I can't use it now without getting a headache.

The smell of a new musical instrument reminds me of a beautiful view of Cork city.

There's a certain smell of .... I don't know what it is, maybe washing machine detergent mixed with perfume or something... that reminds me of holidays we used to go on with friends by the sea.

Any time I smell cigar smoke I remember lying in bed hearing to my father talking with his friends and listening to Miles Davis.

There's a bunch of others that I can't think of now. If I remember them, I'll add them.

 

[evil^milk]

I also have memories when listening to songs.

‎(づ '‿ '｡)づ: It's weird but I used to structure m3u playlists for a particular month and as a consequence can recall the circumstances of that time period. Specific scenes—if I was walking or exercising.

Nothing comes closer to evoking a particular zeitgeist than the sense of smell, though; and I suspect this is so because smell conveys messages more readily than most of the other senses. It is a chemical sense, after all, which is something it has for itself to the exclusion of the rest of the senses, except for the sense of taste (which is no good for evoking memory or nostalgia anyway). I thought once of keeping different scents for each time period in my life to be able to recall later but dismissed this as a silly thought and went merrily about my life thinking of little more than my day-to-day business. I suppose I'll dedicate myself to reminiscence... when I'm old.

I made a previous thread of this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

I know that synesthesia will vary among individuals, but does it apply to tying in memory with some scent? I've never heard of synesthesia being defined in these terms. If so, most of us would be syntesthetes! =P

 

[JUL3]

Okay, there is a perfect Breaking Bad clip for the subject of this thread, but I don't think it's on Youtube.

I thought the exact same thing. When Gus has Walt around for dinner and is talking about the Chilean dish, and how the smell reminds him of his childhood. Then Walt gives a scientific reason for smell being the most sensitive cue for memory retrieval.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Whenever I smell a crisp wad of cash I just

I just

 

[NeptuneUK]

It has been said that smells evoke a stronger memory response than any other sensory input.
I can't think of many solid examples right now, but I do know that a particular brand of soap makes me feel nostalgic for some reason.
And for some reason, a brand of shower gel that I never buy gives me a vivid recollection of shower sex.

 

[Raziaar]

I also have memories when listening to songs. Anytime I hear a song from Oleander's album Unwind, I think about Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, because I listed to that album on motha****in' loop for hours while playing that as a kid.

Every time I listen to Desert Rose by Sting(yeah yeah yeah, shut up), I get this magical Wintery Christmas type feeling that I used to have back when I was first playing Dragonrealms in Iowa. It's crazy how that song is tied to that memory for me, and evokes such powerful feelings.

 

[Bad^Hat]

This album is my early teens. Friend had it and we spun the mother****er so many times that I could probably recreate it from memory if I had some rudimentary guitar skills. Can barely stand to listen to it now but the opening track still pops into my head from time to time.

Lot of other albums remind me of WoW unfortunately, as I was playing a lot of it around the time I started to actually give a shit about music.

As for scents, not a lot springs to mind. I went to the library recently and that musty book smell reminded me of when I used to go to the the kid's section when I was much younger and just get an armful of random books that appealed to me because of the cover or something. Usually arts and crafts stuff or like, Where's Wally or something like that. I still remember this one bizarre comic I found about a guy who's adventuring with a goblin looking thing, who says he's from the planet Pervect but the guy keeps telling people he's from planet Pervert. I could never find what that one was.

 

[Raziaar]

Heh. My early teen album has to be NOFX I heard they suck live. (it's a playlist, but many are copyright blocked though. bah) I still really enjoy it. Very nostalgic.

 

[Azner]

the smell of loads of cooked fast food burgers reminds me of SF.