Connect with Memories through Scent

Learn how to connect with memories through scent. Who do you think of when you hear the word “candles?” What is your favorite smell? What do you think about when you smell this great scent?

As a kid, I would love it when the electricity went out due to a bad storm. It was a fun, family bonding time of getting the flashlights out and lighting our candles. Even when I smell a hazelnut cream candle or vanilla to this day, I think of these wonderful memories. Even places with specific smells can help us connect with memories through scent, like the state fair. Also, what is it about the popcorn smell that makes us instantly associate it with a movie?

Sometimes it is fun to go back in time and wonder what life would have been like to live when candles were your sole light source at night. Now with electricity, we take light for granted. Even though we do not live in the stone age anymore, candles still play an important role in people’s lives. They smell and look great, setting up a mood and ambiance that help us remember our memories and sit back and relax.

Scent is a very strong reminder of memories in our mind. It can be powerful enough to motivate us to do things we used to do when we were younger, when we smell something. For example, the smell of fresh cut lumber makes me want to build a project. My parents were always doing projects with wood on our house, all growing up. This is why I love to walk through a hardware store like Lowe’s, just to smell the wood. So many great memories with my family. I feel like I am at home, in that store.

Wouldn’t you love to capture some of these great, memorable old scents and save them forever. Pass them on to your loved ones, so they can feel like they lived your life when you were younger. This is why we encourage you to save some perfume, cologne, or a favorite candle in a Baby, Wedding, or “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule, so you can pass on the legacy story associated with this smell.

Imagine your child never being able to meet their great grandfather because he passed away before your baby was born. However, you can save as many mementos and memorabilia from their great grandfather’s life as possible, including his cologne he always wore. As your child opens their own Baby Time Capsule, they pull out these sentimental items, a “Message to the Future” letter from him that is handwritten, and the bottle of cologne to smell him as if he is right there holding your child. How precious and intimate would that moment be for the whole family as you reminisce. Share the old stories of your family and what life was like when your baby was born, as you pull out each item from the Baby Time Capsule. Priceless.

Connect with memories through scent, and bring your family closer as you tell the stories associated with these smells. Scent has the power and opportunity to form a lasting relationship with your family and transport them to a place or moment in time.

What is your favorite smell and why? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie