My daughter sent me a text message...she was walking to school, and could smell coffee, oh mom she texted me, I smelt it & I ran & there was Brian, smiling and, and the cafe is open. They are opening Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Brian wants to see you, wants you to drop in and have a coffee, oh mum, I am so excited....I could smell coffee again.
Wow, so many of us like to wake up to that wonderful aroma of coffee in the mornings, or look forward to our morning break when we are able sit and savour a wonderful cup of 'real' coffee..but for my daughter on that particular morning, not only did the smell of coffee make her realize that Brian was probably in the cafe, it made her run to see if she was right, it gave her a bolt of energy and enthusiasm. She told me that to stand in the doorway of the cafe, smelling that aroma, knowing the door was open and the street side furniture was out gave her the most wonderful feeling of happiness and to see Brian behind the counter filled her with love...and it all started with her sense of smell.
Smell is connected to our memory, it helps us to re-live wonderful events from the past, does it also make us remember things that we would rather forget?
My grandmother, who died twenty years ago is someone that I remember very well, even though we did not always live in the same countries. My grandmother was a smoker, however she also wore a perfume called Anais Anais. It was a very flowery scent and to this day, if I smell that perfume I not only think of my grandmother, but I actually feel as though she is there. The interesting thing is that although my grandmother died of lung cancer, due to smoking, the smell of smoke does not bring about a bad memory.
I have racked my brain for smells that take me back to unpleasant situations, the only ones I can come up with are:
- vomit (when I drank too much Kalua & Coke at the age of 18 & vomited all over my brother on a train)
- poo (stood in dog shit & walked it through my school hall at the age of 12)
- rotten garlic (walking into my brothers room the morning after he had eaten garlic - revolting)
- boiling potatoes (spilt a whole pot of them down my front, giving me 3rd degree burn - no scars - a miracle - maybe I should learn to like this smell)
- old people homes - (as a Guide Girl I had to go to a home for the aged and ask if they would like any shopping. I loved the people, but the shame I felt for wanting to get to the shopping part because I hated the smell of the home has left a lasting impression)
There are much worse things that have happened in my life, however I cannot place a smell to go with those events. Does our memory work the same with smell as it does with pain? When we have experienced great pain our memory dulls the pain over time, making it difficult for us to remember exactly how that pain felt. This is obviously a matter of self preservation, does the brain do the same with smell. Does the sense of smell attached to a bad situation lessen with time, does it dampen to allow us to move past the event? Interesting questions, I don't know the answers.....I do know I love the smell of coffee!
Tarot at Alice Island Café
EVERY THURSDAY
The Guided Path with Lisa Jane
Professional Tarot Reader & Spiritual Counsellor
Corner Kate and Arthur Street, Woody Point, Redcliffe Peninsula
Open Thurs to Sat 9:00am to 5:00pm
