Have you ever encountered a smell that reminded you of another time in your life when you encountered it?

For me, this happens fairly often. A couple of examples: whenever I’m around diesel trucks I think of two things, I used to think about the shuttle buses in Colorado when our family would go skiing there every year, and I also think more recently about my time at a mission training program in North Carolina where I was constantly surrounded by diesel trucks and machines.

Another weirder example is when I was doing music theater stuff my senior year of high school. I was playing the role of Beast in Beauty and the Beast. I remember that for some reason around that time I had switched my deodorant and it was a fairly strong smell. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, and I got used to it. However, I eventually switched to another kind. Now, whenever I smell the scent that I had during that show, I instantly think, not only of the show but I can recall specific memories from when I was smelling that smell.

All of this got me thinking about possible experiments you could do with smells.

One of my ideas was that you could have a different “theme scent” for each year of your life. Basically something like:

  • 4 – Vanilla
  • 5 – Lavender
  • 6 – Apple Blossom
  • 7 – Citrus
  • Etc.

So, basically, you would just intentionally make these scents a part of your daily routine each year. Then, 20 years later, you smell something citrus scented and it brings back a flood of memories from when you were 7 years old. No confusion with when you were 6 or 8 because you can remember the specific smell.

Smell seems to me to be one of the most underestimated senses, yet it is so much more powerful than we realize.

Even if you aren’t ready to make a commitment to something like a theme scent for every year, it would at least be interesting to have a theme scent for trips and vacations. Any kind of special events. Of course you can take pictures and write about it, but what if while you were looking at pictures and reading about it you could also be smelling it?

Sounds weird, but we do it subconsciously anyway, might as well make some intentional effort.

What if everyone started smelling the past?