Mariment Laughter Yoga

     Life-long I've been allergic to bad smells.  If I were employed as "professional nose" for a perfumer or winery, others might cut me some slack for my shoulder shuddering when sniffing a dastardly scent, but no...I'm known as being "too sensitive."
     Years ago when I traveled as part of my job, I often had to change rooms if I detected an unfavorable smell.  The first place I looked was the bathroom shower curtain.  I don't know if hotels regularly change curtains, but a scrim etched in pink, green, gray or black  is a dead giveaway that the drape is moldy and needs to be banished.
     Recently I read that the quality of one's dreams are affected by scents.  So if the bedroom has an attached bath in need of scrubbing, guess what?  You're likely to have nightmares.  Not nightmares of the Scrubbing Bubbles coming after you...oh no! more like fear of an gruesome alien abduction complete with screeching sound effects.
     Of course it makes sense that Bath & Body Works sells "pillow scents" in lovely odors like vanilla and lavender.  Unless you've been attacked by a rare orchid or lavender plant those fragrances will likely give you good dreams as well as good sleep.  It wouldn't be good marketing for Bath & Body Works to bottle and sell a pillow scent called "eau de gym shoe," "flop-sweat," or "landfill."
     Dr. Alan Hirsch, a nationally recognized smell and taste expert and the founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, discovered that men are most attracted to scents of  lavender, pumpkin pie, donuts, and black licorice.  Women are most attracted to black licorice, cucumber, baby powder, pumpkin pie and lavender.  Attraction was measured as "additional blood flow to the penis" in men and "additional lubrication in the vagina" in women. 
     No wonder fragrance and perfume is a bazillion-dollar industry worldwide.  Not only are we seduced by advertisements for celebrity perfumes, but merchants of all kinds subtly use fragrance as a means to gain greater access to our wallets.
     After a long day at work, I'm ready to jump into my jammies and nod off to dreamland, but wait...!
     "Uh hon...are those Good & Plenty candies hiding under my pillow or are you just glad to see me?"