Smells like a memory

Certain scents have a unique skill - teleportation. Most of us have experienced getting a whiff of something that immediately transports us to a time and place in the past. For example, whenever I smell Michael Kors, I am taken to my honeymoon in New York 2001. If I smell Fahrenheit by Dior, I am whisked back to my hubby's flat to the wonderful loved up days when we first started dating.

But not all scents take us to a pleasant point in history, for example, L'instant Magique by Guerlain takes me back to a very unhappy time in my life, because it was what I had been wearing during that whole time. Every time I smell it now, I get knots in my stomach and I tense up. The reason it comes to mind now is because of my commitment to work my way through my entire perfume collection and my dread of wearing it again.

This relationship between smell and memory fascinates me. For me, music has the same ability to transport me to another time and place. Just the opening bars of 'Follow you, follow me' by Genesis takes me back to the late 70's in my childhood home, in the back room with my mum doing the ironing. Unlikely as it sounds, 'No Limits' by 2Unlimited is a favourite song of mine because it reminds me of when Kid 1 was born as it was a massive chart hit at the time.

I could list hundreds of songs and smells that hold a special meaning for me, not because they are great smells or songs, but because of where they take me, but is it possible to change what a smell or song represents? I suppose it depends on the strength of the attachment to the memory. Because the period of time that L'instant Magique takes me back to is so unpleasant, I could never imagine that it would ever be a scent that I could wear again which is a shame as it is a truly lovely scent (although not as nice as the original L'instant). Likewise I feel the same about the song 'Baby baby' by Amy Grant. That song takes me right back to the day my dad died. Again, I can never imagine that I will be able to enjoy the true meaning of that song which is a celebration of love.

So I'm going to conduct an experiment. Baking is one of my favourite past times and I'm going to have a baking day this weekend. I normally listen to very cheesy pop very loudly and abstain from wearing any perfume so as not to detract from the heady scents of the baking, but this time, I am going to listen to 'Baby baby' and I will wear L'instant Magique. Nothing bad happens when I bake and I find it a very blissful way to spend the day, so I'm hoping that this will have an impact on the hold they have on me.

I'm under no illusions that this will magically happen in just one afternoon, such is the power that the scent & song have to take me back to such horrible times, which is why I will deliberately wear L'instant Magique when I have a fun event planned and will have 'Baby baby' ready on my iPod to be the soundtrack to happier times.

This has turned out to be quite a morbid blog hasn't it? Sorry. I didn't intend it to be. It was just me being curious and wondering out loud, as it were, whether I could change the meaning of a scent. I'll get back to you with my results.

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