Throughout life the
emanated perfumes from the places where we live
and the people we meet, impregnate our memories
with their essence.
For everyone of us, the
perfumes and the smelled, clothe a precious
meaning that we often overlook, distracted as we
are from the countless solicitations created to
target other senses and, above all, the sight.
The olfaction, that points us out with what we
like and dislike, what is good and what can
potentially be dangerous, appears to be “little
interesting” or even “awkward” at times, yet our
existence begins exactly thanks to a “perfumed”
trail. The fit and mature ovule, enabled to be
fecundated, loses molecules that drive the
spermatozoon towards the ovule. It's not
surprising that each woman has tried , at least
once, to inebriate some man by spreading perfume
trails.
The perfume spreads out in
space, penetrating without us being able to oppose any
resistance, since olfaction is always active, unless
we're affected by a powerful cold or by anosmia.
In our highly rational Western culture, the olfaction is
stigmatized as it puts us in relation to a world of
extraneous smells that we can't control. The olfaction
always puts us in relation to the world conferring it a
particular tonality. All smells produce and, at the
same time, evoke emotions, thoughts, memories, images,
feelings in us. These can be more or less pleasant. To avoid the unpleasantness of the smells we
farther them as much as we can or we try to cover them
with perfumes or deodorants.
The attempt of
control is perhaps due to the fact that the
olfaction also activates the other senses and
without us being able to oppose any resistance.
The smell of delicious food appears to us as a
full plate letting us feel its taste, the smell
of the sea reminds us of the pleasure of the
water on the skin and the sound of the waves
that shatter on the river bank. Who hasn't ever
perceived a smell, stopping all of a sudden,
closing his or her eyes and letting himself
involve from a memory that shapes with images,
sounds, bodily sensations, and tastes? Or of
feeling faint for a particularly unpleasant
smell? The olfaction involves us totally in our
relationship to the world! The smell never
leaves us indifferent and for everyone of, us
each smell has a particular meaning.
That's
exactly the aspect to make our olfactory
memories so impregnated. The aroma of the cake
that mommy used to make, the perfume of the
first person we've ever loved , the smells of a
place dear to us, are such personal memories
that cannot be shared, because the same smell
can be loaded of opposed meanings for another
person.
In the intimacy with the
beloved we share our smell, breaking down the social barrier
that imposes us to present oneself to the other
controlling the smells that our bodies naturally
emanate. If we were to ask a person who's in love, what
his favorite perfume would, it wouldn't surprise us if
he would answer “ the smell of her skin”. The first
contact that we have at birth with the mother, is
olfactory and as an adult it's still the olfaction that
attracts towards or pushes us away from other people.
Could we ever fall in love with a person whose smell
turns out to be unpleasant? I can hear you: we're all
answering “never ever!” and certainly we have the same
expression of disgust on our faces.
The smell of our beloved person is source of reassurance
and pleasure. Sniffing his or her smell placates our
eagerness and makes us feel at home. If she or he isn't
there we hold his sweater we sleep on his pillow and
it's almost like he would be with us.
Let's carefully think about
it before covering these smells that to mark out our
lives, that define the pleasure of the intimacy. Anyone
can perfume, but only that person has such a smell,
particular tonality that thrills and involves us with
all our senses and the sensations that the human contact
generate. The smell wraps us up, penetrates and gets
hold of us, in one word changes us. In the beginning it
was the smell that pointed out the road towards life.
Today it points out our presence in life.
Chiara
Dainese Personality and interpersonal relationships
psychology graduate
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