I am very sensitive to smell. Whether it is a ‘good’ smell or a ‘bad’ smell, scents can leave a very deep impression on me.

Depending on the combination of smell, location, and moment, scents can help me to recall memories tucked waaaay down deep in the corner of my mind, where I never knew it existed.

Also, let’s take a moment of silence for Bing Bong because losing him in the Memory Dump was incredibly sad. (Please watch this excellent movie if you haven’t already!)

Bing Bong!

But, what if we can find a way to resurrect those lost memories? I got this idea while watching the latter few films of the Harry Potter fantasy series whereby wizards/witches use tears as a way to revisit specific memories (Read more about the fantastical pensieve here)

Instead of using tears, wouldn’t it be cool if we had the capability of bottling scent as a way of remembering things?

When I first landed in Brazil, the half-open street and sewerage system really reminded me of 1990s Hong Kong. Now, as you probably already might be thinking, it absolutely does not smell good. However, when I smelled the scent, I was transported back to a memory of a 13-year old me playing on a plastic play structure in the middle of concrete jungle Hong Kong.

Frank Downe’s picture of Hong Kong in the 1990s! How times have changed!

Whenever I open my vanilla-shea butter hand lotion gifted to me from an ex-boyfriend, I am reminded of neatly lined stone houses and high-reaching palm trees from my time studying in an international programme in ancient Olympia.

And weirdly enough, the smell of my friend’s slightly stale kitchen makes me feel entirely at home. I don’t know why.

The list can honestly go on.

Although these most of my memory-inducing scents are often not pleasant by any means, there’s nothing like resurfacing a memory (or a chain reaction of memories) that keeps you grounded in your roots and who you are.

Certainly, sometimes, these memories are melancholic and overwhelming. But memory makes us. And it is literally unreplicable. Words can only do so much.

So, with that said. Does anyone else experience the same thing? Or want the same thing?