Truisms
You can describe a shape, a colour, a sound or even a taste. But why is it you can't fully describe a smell?
Having pondered this for a while, I'm sure there's a very real link between a scent and an emotion.
Some emotions can be described very clearly; such as anger, empathy, sorrow et cetera. But then sometimes, you have a feeling or a sensation that just defies proper explanation.
A certain smell can sometimes evoke a series of very vivid memories. And in turn, disturb the silted basin of the ocean of your mind and spew forth those emotions that defy explanation.
The human mind is a truly amazing thing and make no mistake.
Not satisfied with a simple entry of an event, an avalanche of sensations, emotions, feelings, sounds and scents are added to this rich mix to create a snapshot of a moment that is only ever as precise as your forever bias mind will allow.
When all is said and done, when you have lived the full course of your life and there are less years in front of you than there are behind, you will recall these moments.
No matter if you are the fashion victim who's life is a wasteland of materialism, those memories dearest to you will be those sensations, those emotions, those feelings, those sounds and those scents.
In those fleeting moments when words fail to describe those emotions, take some solace in the fact that those indescribable emotions are the very thing that define you as an individual...
posted by Wayne Smallman at Friday, May 20, 2005
3 Comments:
Both color and sound have very exact scientific descriptions, which allows us to look at them from an objective point of view (color as frequency of light, sound as frequency of vibrations). But smell and taste are chemical reactions that are interpreted by the brain, and thus the same taste/smell can be a lot different for different people.
I like the way that the sense of smell and emotions and memory intertwine.
Clearly, at some earlier point in our development, our sense of smell was much more acute than it is today.
And given this extra importance, you can see why tying memories to a particular smell would have benefits...
"why is it you can't fully describe a smell?"
Obviously you've never heard Jilly Goulden! (Joke)
" a snapshot of a moment that is only ever as precise as your forever bias mind will allow"
I love that phrase. I have lots of snapshots in my mind that I could never describe, and wish I could transmit the emotion directly to someone else to help them understand.
"indescribable emotions are the very thing that define you as an individual..."
Absolutely, and that's why nobody can know you fully! And that's why a life shared is a life shared!
p.s. emotions that can't be described (except grossly as sorrow, joy, etc) : vis, losing contact with someone you thought you had contact with, such as Lucretia (and her, in turn with Retarius).
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