smells

scent.

quite an underrated sense when you think about it,
for smells can evoke a whole lot of emotions,
they can evoke memories,
they can bring you to exact moments in time.

for me it’s deodorants,
perfumes,
soaps,
the almost used up candles i still have in my room,
the smell of old classrooms in schools i’ve left.
my grandparents house,
the smell of rain on cement,
or of freshly mowed grass.
it’s the smell of pine at christmas,
and the smell of the bush in summer.
it all brings me back to stages in my life.

there is no feeling to describe old smells but nostalgia,
no matter how good or bad i felt at the time.
it’s a kind feeling.
homely,
calming,
grounding;
it reminds me that i’m always growing and forever changing.

smells bring me back to moments in time,
just like hearing an old song would do,
or tasting a meal you haven’t had in a long time.

you aren’t aware of a smell's power at the time, it’s only when you experience it again that you realise it was there all along,
waiting to wrap its arms around your heart and make it ache ever so slightly.

sometimes i can’t figure out from what point in my life the smell is from, or what i was doing or how i was feeling.
that’s why i think it’s so special,
you know the smell is from your past,
and there’s comfort in knowing that.
there’s no emotion attached to that sort of memory except for what you make of the smell.
and that feels really good.