Smell ya Later

By Anonymous -
"Spices and perfumed oils do not endure over long periods of time, however, and the destruction of incense, through burning, is integral to its employment" (Green, 5) 
After reading this, what struck me as interesting wasn't the actual fact, but rather, by conclusions to be made about the power(s) of scent and its limitations. Is the power of scent reliant on its state of temporality?

This idea was further elaborated by the scientific notion of scents dissipating from our perceptions after a certain period of time. This corresponds with the phrase of spending enough time in a monkey exhibit, you no longer smell it. The longer you stay in an area and experience a particular scent, the less you experience and eventually it begins to fade into oblivion. The same can be said with certain skin receptors which are only activated once and then are only activated again when another touch or a change of touch occurs. The same applies with all of smells. Eventually we all get used to it.

Is that what makes scents so powerful? I think so. I think it's power is driven from the sentimentality and irrecoverable nature that makes scent so poignant and personal. No two people can smell alike but nobody can prolong their sense of smell to continue to smell an aroma when their body normalizes it. We enjoy it but also crave for it to continue but our bodies don't permit the ecstasy. It's very interesting to me how important scent it so us but how we quizzically push it away. I wonder why this is? If we continued to constantly smell what was around us, would we be happy? Of course, there are less pleasing scents, but they seem outweighed in my perspective.

In my opinion, the other scents don't necessarily follow the same design as does scent. I don't recall a time where people taste something initially and then the flavor dissipates in their mouths. It just doesn't happen - at least normally.  There is never a time where we don't wish to constantly see. The experience of sight isn't temporary (except for blinking). We are always seeing, hearing, tasting and touching, but we're not always smelling. And yet that is the sense most closely connected to the brain (limbic system). Maybe we are only permitted short bursts of enjoyment in a world once defined by survival. Scent has now become commodified, much like with the other senses, but everything is only temporary -Is that where the magic is? 

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