I was driving and the notion of smell struck me as odd. I mean of all the senses I don’t think we give smell a whole lot of credit or at least the same quality of credit we do the other senses.

Think of it… it does not come up when you’re asked if you would rather loose one sense or another. So, why do we smell? 

The other senses are to my mind more obvious. Touch, sight and hearing, for example, all have real apparent value… but smell?

My guess is that smell is overlooked by you like it was by me until recently. I started really enjoying smell as a result of a podcast I have been watching. Cheese and wine and coffee and cooking on my own are all things I now don’t do with out intentional observation of the smells involved.

It has been enjoyable to be alive to smell… awake to it. I am no scientist but I imagine smell has something to do with warning us of danger or to not eat rotten things. In that way it very likely plays a role in keeping us alive. I wonder if in a slightly different way paying attention to smells and smelling and enjoying it with intentionality can keep our spirits uplifted, alive. 

When was the last time you intentionally smelled something with the focus on enjoyment?