What does home smell like to you?
- Alexis Marie Foxx
- Jun 8, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 15, 2024
Current Song: Hair Down (featuring Kendrick Lamar) by SiR
To me, home smells like….. wood polish, grandpa’s stale cigarettes, fresh pine blowing through the breeze, and grandma’s salted fried chicken.
Smell is one of the senses most linked to memory, did you know? The whiff of a certain scent, flower, perfume, herb, or even something as simple as a cleaning solution can kick up your ‘olfactory system. “Smells are handled by the olfactory bulb, the structure in the front of the brain that sends information to the other areas of the body's central command for further processing. Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory.”, states Harvard School of Medicine . Anyway, back to the smell of home.. what is it for you? Is it warm like chocolate chunk cookies and fresh popcorn open on movie night? Or does home always smell a little bit like your kitties? Pets definitely change the way a house smells, it's strange but also comforting. Thinking back to lockdown and half of the people around you could not smell anything, that was always such a worrisome moment. It was the worst when it was YOU and you're wondering if your seasonal allergies are acting up (they are) or if you have covid (ugh).
Now that we’ve gone through a hell of an allergy season (what the hell), we’re back to masks in 2023 because of the wildfires blowing ash and smoke down here to us. I'm sorry that’s happening to you though, Canada. I wish you weren’t on fire? …..Now back to what I was originally on, what does home smell like to you? Can you transport yourself back home the moment you smell the deep purple Love Spell Victoria's Secret perfume you used to spray all over your teenage room? (ew, kill me) Or does the smell of your grandfather's many cigarettes lurk on everything? Does home smell like a bonfire, or fireplace? Or a little bit like wine?
Be honest, you might be amused by what you find!
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Love, Brooklynn
Smell is one of the most intense senses. It can trigger memories and feelings. It can connect to the past and remind you of an era. My grandmother‘s house had unforgettable smells, that make me remember holidays and visits. I love the smell of newborn babies and the smell of my man as well as hot summer nights when I was a girl in Brooklyn as we sat on the stoop on hot summer nights to escape the sweltering heat inside while we sucked on crunchy cold ice. Smells can remind you of all that’s good and all that is bad. Marchelle