Mnemosyne

For the first lesson of Project 3, we were to bring two scents along with us, one that evokes a pleasant memory and the other one that evokes an unpleasant memory.

Here are my scents..!

Pleasant Memory

The scent that I brought that evokes a pleasant memory is a perfume from The Body Shop.

Why..?

The perfume was the very one I wore for my first date. Then as an adolescent, I often look up to my mom in terms of dressing up and even learning how to put make-up for the first time. I knew I had to dress up and that also means smelling pleasant. Instinctively, I went to my mother’s cupboard of perfume and picked a random one.

Hence, this scent has since reminded me of my first date.

Unpleasant Memory

The scent that I brought was the scent of moth balls. (My roommate happen to have them )

Why..?

When I was very much younger, at the age of 5 to 12 years old, I was left alone at my grandmother’s house very often. This is due to the busy schedule that my parents had and I remember the lonely nights I had to spend over at my grandmother’s place because of that. As an elderly, my grandmother loves to place moth balls around the house to keep it smelling fresh and to remove the water vapour in the air that causes things to get mouldy. Hence, the iconic thing about my grandmother’s house is the smell of moth balls, especially in her room where I use to spend the night. The smell of moth balls brings me back to the unpleasant childhood experience I had to go through being left alone at my grandmother’s place. (Even so, I really love my grandmother! She watched me grew up!)