Scentscapes - Wednesdays Will Always Be Jasmine & Smoke

"Bowl of Beauty" Peony - Image courtesy of Laura Weber

Heart in your nose? What scentscape accompanies your life's most potent memories? Peonies are among my earliest, happiest memories, closely associated with my Birthday. New Year's Eve is "Here's My Heart." It's the perfume Mom used to wear on special occasions, holidays, anniversaries, or special celebratory gatherings. It was a 1950's Avon special, reminiscent of waterlily, mimosa, iris, and melon, with undertones of sandalwood and moss. I wasn't an astute perfumer (nez) or aromachologist, able to distinguish subtle scents when I was a child. I just knew when I smelled "Here's My Heart" that Mom was in the vicinity, and that she may be feeling upbeat. Or when I smelled peonies, it was around my Birthday. The floral scents revive tender memories of myself and my Mom and those special occasions.

Image courtesy of Unsplash photographer Geraldine Dukes

But Wednesdays will always be jasmine and smoke. Like Amortentia from Harry Potter mythology, the magical potion that arouses infatuation or obsession, this is how I experience the potent fragrance: "Love, love, love." Allow me to explain.

Wednesday nights were our family's time with 'Rain and Bunky, our favorite Aunt and Uncle, who were like Godparents to us kids. It was my favorite night of the week for so many reasons, not the least of which was 'Rain. She would lift me up onto her lap and enfold me in an indelibly gentle, energizing hug, squeezing me tightly, delightfully cradling my tiny, waif-like form in her mothering embrace. She was truly an icon of the divine for me. Her distinctive scent, a jasmine perfume, would wash over me until I was intoxicated with her palpable joy and unconditional love. It wasn't until later in the evening when that delightful fragrance was so overlaid with nicotine smoke from four adults playing Tricks at the kitchen table that it took on its own unique scent signature. Smelling fresh jasmine today still causes me to anticipate lots of love and a smoky chaser!

"Joy by Jean" was a status symbol perfume in the 1950s, using over 10,000 jasmine blooms and 28 dozen roses in every ounce, but 'Rain would likely have used one of the popular knock-offs, Le Galion Jasmin or Chanel No. 5. In my memory, it's the jasmine and my special 'Rainy, my protector and second Mom, whose very presence anointed my world with joy and love. The distinctive jasmine scentscape is the olfactory symphony playing the refrain, "love, love, love." When Wednesdays come around each week, I think of jasmine and 'Rain.

Ripe raspberries - Image courtesy of Laura Weber

Scent is powerful. We process emotional connection to smell in the brain's amygdala. Ripe raspberries and their citrusy, sweet, tangy aroma make me wistful for summer days in my garden. Resting with a bowl of yogurt topped with fresh raspberries, I'd sit in the swing with my beloved, watching the cloud parade. When 'Rain was dying, I brought her a bouquet with jasmine, in hopes that the scent would comfort and remind her - and me - of "love, love, love."

When natural fragrances are integrated with our experiences and relationships, they comprise a distinctive scentscape. They supply contour for our memory-rich identity.

There are many ways we rely on scentscape to frame our daily life:

• Anchoring memories - signature scents of people and places we love

• Signature scents - for dates, engagements, or weddings, for example

• Fragrance zoning - assigning distinct scents for different areas of the home, cinnamon or citrus in the kitchen, lavender in the bedroom, etc.

• Appetite-inducers - the "yummy" smells that make us ravenous

Today we've all but lost a robust and varied natural scentscape in our daily isolation from Nature. With the ubiquitous presence of olfactory masking through scented candles, air fresheners, scented fabric, deodorants, and even scented garbage bags to conceal repulsive or unwanted odors, we are losing our capacity to grasp subtle scents in Nature. We are also dissociating natural fragrances from our sensate experiences and relationships when windows are closed most of the year. More than "Here's My Heart," I associate the aroma of spring peonies and summer peppermint with my Mom because they grew in our backyard, right outside the kitchen window, where we could find her most hours of the day, every day of the week. Peonies and mint meant home, meant Mom.

We can often find our way home in our memory by exploring scents from our childhood backyard, park, or play area. Recall a favorite natural fragrance from trees, shrubs or flowers that grew nearby, and your childhood memories will come flooding back in an instant.

Subtle - Earthy, herbal, slightly spicy scent of Teresa pink chrysanthemums - Image courtesy of Laura Weber

Some have complained, especially since Covid, of losing their sense of smell, or of nose-blindness if living with a smoker or certain creature-kin. If you feel a little rusty in your capacity for refined smelling, perhaps invite a friend or two and host a natural scent party! Maybe start with something potent. Decaying bananas are certainly easy to identify for most people. Fetid food odors are not on everyone's scentscape top-40, but they are powerful, and offer us necessary warning prior to ingestion, and cues for recognizing decay and death in the natural world. I wouldn't necessarily include only these at your scent party! Include many natural scents that you love and share them.

The sheer pleasure we experience from smelling desirable natural scents cannot be overstated, as well as the accompanying health benefits we receive when we associate those scents with favorable memories of our experiences and relationships. Try it and smell what arises!

Hosting a Scent Party: Here's a start. Cover your friends'/your kids'/your partner's eyes, and ask them to identify some of the natural scents you love. Make it a challenge. Take turns. Yes, go ahead! PLEASE, try this at home. Here are some possible starters:

Shrub roses have their most distinct scent when they are half-open, ready for pollinators. What memory do you associate with roses? Image courtesy of Laura Weber

Florals:

Roses, lavender, lilac, moonflowers

Trees, Grasses, Ferns:

Pine, cedar, sandalwood, wetland ferns

Ocean spray/fresh spring water/rain water:

Catch a wave, rain chains, rain barrels, puddling vessels

Herbs, Fruits and Veggies:

Citrus fruits, berries, carrots, chives, sage, oregano

Wherever you journey into Nature's embrace, remember to stop, turn around, and smell. Discover your world's scentscape, and find your happiest self immersed in her intoxicating aromas! Aaahhhh!