Friday, June 06, 2008

Induced Sense Memories

You walk outside on a crisp autumn day. A breeze rustles the leaves and carries with it a faint earthy odor. Suddenly you are ten years old, jumping into piles of raked leaves that have been left along the side of the road for pickup. All from a little whiff of decaying leaves. After moving to the mainland I noticed that when I'd go surfing out at Westport just the smell of Mr. Zog's Sex Wax could transport me back to the lineup at Threes. Amazing what our brains can do when motivated.

About four trips-to-Hawai`i ago I decided to try to induce this in myself. I picked up a different scent of deodorant and I used it for the month that I was there. When I got home I packed it away and didn't use it for about a year. Sure enough, when I happened to use it (because I ran out of my regular scent) I was back in Waikiki. Since then, I've re-enforced this by continuing to use the same scent in Hawai`i on every trip.

Give it a try. Once you've trained your brain, it's like having an instant Hawaiian vacation at your disposal.

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