When someone asks you what your favorite smell is, what comes to mind and why?

The Nose, it Always Knows

What do these things have in common: vanilla, fresh-baked cookies, a crackling fire, a fresh-cut Christmas tree…They’re all related to this week’s Sparkle Wednesday question.

I think it’s a good one. When someone asks what your favorite smell is, what comes to mind and why?

A few days ago, I held my four-week great nephew, Rhys. He’s adorable and still has that slightly sweet, indescribable, new baby smell. This got me thinking about the power of smells. 

Have you ever wondered why certain smells elicit such strong emotions or memories? Also, why do we take a deep inhale when someone complains about a bad smell, or is that just me? That makes absolutely no sense.

The answer to the first question, why smells elicit strong memories, is easy. It’s because our olfactory system (responsible for processing smells) is connected to the limbic system, the area in our brain associated with emotions and memories. 

Even a single smell, like an old baseball card or nag champa incense at the Electric Fetus, can trigger old memories because scent molecules are so small they bypass our normal consciousness and go directly to the amygdala, the area of the brain associated with storing and retrieving memories. Wow! That is so cool! 

I have no idea why we (or just me) take a big inhale when someone tells me that something smells bad. Maybe it’s about sharing an experience? 

I still vividly smell the junk drawer at my grandma and grandpa's house. Close your eyes and imagine a combination of rubber bands, half-sticks of Double Mint Gum, pencil shavings, and erasers - such a good-smelling drawer. Lol.

So, what are your favorite smells or strong-smell-elicited memories, and why? Do they trigger a specific memory, a feeling, or something else?