Image by Getty
They say that music has the ability to transport us back to a different place in our lives. That’s true, but don’t smells have exactly the same effect too? What wafts up your nostrils can be just as potent as what you hear. We all have those special, and even not-so-special, aromas that are associated with many and varied points in our lives.
The brand of deodorant we used in high school whizzes us straight back to the locker rooms after gym class. The smell of a pencil being sharpened is a buzz you won’t have had since elementary school. And that strange smell as the glue holding a packet of trading cards is prised apart? Congratulations, you’re ten years old again. What about the smell of a home-cooked meal - does that bring you to your grandmother's kitchen, or perhaps it reminds you of a neighbor's house? Smells are different for different people.
Scents are even used by food stores to sell their products. This may cause your entire belief system to fall apart, but bread isn’t always baked in-store. But the stores use the smell of baking bread from a can to entice you to keep shopping and spending. They know exactly what they’re doing because they know the human brain equates the smell with freshness and good quality produce! The next time you get that smell of freshly baked bread, check if you can really see where it's coming from!
We’ve only got five senses and they’re all as acute and finely tuned as each other. It’s no surprise that what we smell should rank alongside the food and drinks we can taste, the artifacts we can touch, the sounds we can hear, and the things we can see as a way of bringing it all back. Having a powerful sense of smell is as important as what we see in front of us, especially when something is burning.
Image by Getty
J-Lo’s Secrets to Happiness
J-Lo first found success as a dancer and Latina actress in the early '90s. She became a crossover star in the mid-’90s starring opposite Woody Harrelson in Money Train. When she released her debut album in 1999, it became an instant hit, and suddenly her name was on everyone’s lips. While J-Lo has been gracing our screens for over 20 years, and there’s no doubt that she is a successful actress, musician, and fashion icon, it’s no secret that her love life has been pretty turbulent.
From her ill-fated love affair with Sean Combs, aka P, Diddy to three failed marriages, it’s surprising that she still has a smile on her face wherever she goes. Of course, in July 2021 fans were rapt when she was pictured sharing a kiss with Ben Affleck, her former beau. The pair had split in January 2004, after their engagement broke down. Now they are firmly back together and seem happier than ever.
So, what secrets does J-Lo share about happiness? The hot star says, "As girls, I think we are taught from a very young age that someone is going to bring us our happiness. I was waiting for Prince Charming. Everybody I met was going to be the guy I was going to spend my life with. And then you realize, 'I’m strong, I’m my own keeper, my own savior'. That’s been the journey for me." It should be printed in our school books that no one else is responsible for your own happiness, but somehow that message gets lost along the way.
As a mother, a hard-working woman, and someone who has definitely earned every second of her success, it’s true that Lopez lives by her own words. Perhaps now that she knows who she really is, she’ll actually get the happy-ever-after that she truly deserves?
