Hold your breath!

Yesterday I watched a cool movie called ”Perfume”, where the character’s life is based on all the smells he could sense. This made me think of my own life and the variety of smells surrounding me. How can both good and bad smells be so disturbing? As when a good looking guy or girl passes by you on the streets leaving that nice trace after them. Or when people “release” themselves in a packed train and all you want is to jump out the window for “gas freedom”. Yes, you know what I mean, huh? No one is safe from being caught by the nose.

Remember when you had that boyfriend/girlfriend who used to wear a very nice perfume? You also probably remember that every time you sensed that smell on someone else all the memories of your ex came up again, right? Well, according to Wikipedia, the primary responsible for the relation memory-emotional reaction are groups of neurons called The amygdalae. Through many connections around your brain, they receive and process smell information. So, if you see yourself crying of sadness ‘cause your sister decided to use the same shampoo as “she” used to, blame it on the amygdalae instead.
You see, this smell thing is somehow so important in our lives that so far I have written the word “smell” seven times. I will try to exemplify such importance:

-Perfume stores: hell on earth for allergic and pregnant people. I wonder if those who work in these stores have less functional amygdalae, since their olfaction must be significantly damaged.

-Your beloved one: how nice is to feel his or her smell on your pillow, clothes or when you are together. Hummm!

-Fart: Sadly mankind still hasn’t developed pants with active carbon filters. When this day comes every man and woman in the world will feel freer.

-Food: what can make you happier than the smell of good food? Smell of good food when you are hungry, of course. In both ways, it is very nice.

-Smelly people: if you study “Swedish for immigrants” then you know what I mean. I believe the word “deodorant” is not in the dictionary for some cultures.

-Public bathrooms: I don’t need to say much about this one. Especially if you enter it after someone has made something solid and you feel like Gollum entering a foggy smelly cave, finding his preeeeciousssss.

That’s it folks. Remember the importance of the air the ones around you breathe. The invisible and magnificent world of smells surrounds us all and its dangers can be closer to your nose than you think. After all what you see is not always what you get.