This is it! I can’t believe we’ve come to the last session. I really do hope you’ve enjoyed doing these creative exercises this summer. I know I have.

I want to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve done these past 9 weeks - Why can it be valuable to further dimensionalize common smell words?

I think, for me, the single most important reason is so we hav…

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I can’t believe we’re nearing the end of the sessions. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with everyday smells around me, and I’m glad I’ve got notes to help remind me of my experiences. I hope you feel the same. Even if you haven’t been able to do every session, you can always go back to any of the words when time permits.

So, this week we’re focusing on th…

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This week we’re focusing on the word “fruity” which is perfect to explore this time of year.

The word can be used in literal terms to describe anything from the smell of ripe berries (e.g., strawberry, raspberry, blueberry), stone fruits (e.g., peach, apricot, plum), tropical fruits (e.g., mango, pineapple, papaya, and coconut), to citruses (e.g., lemon,…

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This week we’re focusing on the word “floral”, which is a descriptor many people use to simply say something smells like flowers. But what does that really mean?

“Floral” can be a shortcut for something traditionally coded as “feminine”, which can be both negative: “That fragrance is too floral for me,” or positive: “It smells floral, like my grandma’s p…

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We’ve made it halfway! 🥳 I hope you’re enjoying the sessions as much as I am.

This week we’re focusing on the word “smoky”, which describes the smell of burned or burning matter: wood, paper, food, incense, tobacco, etc. The smell of real smoke depends largely on what’s burning, ranging from woody and earthy to plasticky, oily, or chokingly chemical.

But…

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This week we’re focusing on the word “woody”, which is a common catch-all term for scents reminiscent of trees, heartwood, bark, and timber.

Who doesn’t love the smell of antique furniture or cedar closets. Even better - the smell of old books in a library! But you can also find woody smells in unconventional places like in that everyday spice you use, b…

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“If the past billion years had just passed for you in the space of an hour, then the first whiffs of green leaves would have come about thirty minutes ago, the woodsy smells fifteen minutes after that, flowery-fruity-spicy-minty after another five minutes, and a burst of variations on those themes just two minutes ago.” ~ Harold McGee, describing the ev…

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This week we move to the world beneath our feet. We’re going to focus on the word “earthy”.

Like the stinky and musky smells we explored earlier, earthy smells suggest a connection to the basics, a closeness to the land, even something ancient and pure. Simply put, it’s of the Earth.

We humans are really good at detecting a particular kind of earthy smell…

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Welcome to the 2nd week of our Language Lab Summer Sessions!

Today we’re focusing on another primal smell - the smell that’s commonly called “musky” for its animal-like properties. In perfumery, we often call it “animalic”. Think the smell of skin, sweat, and pet fur.

We humans are incredibly drawn to musky smells; they’ve long been associated with warmth, intimacy, and sensuality. Their sometimes slightly dirty scent evokes feelings of closeness, nostalgia, vulnerability, even safety, making it both familiar and mysterious, and deeply compelling.

We love the smell of a newborn baby: a mix of skin chemistry, vernix (the waxy coating present at birth), and subtle body odors. It's a very comforting smell that signals safety, love, calm, and protection, making it almost irresistible to parents and non-parents alike.

We love the smell of our pets. A dog's fur smell is a complex mix of natural oils, bacteria and yeast, and the scent produced by their anal glands. The moisture on their fur, whether from rain, swimming, or a bath, can release musky volatile compounds, which many love to bury their nose in.

And who can resist the smell of a well-worn shirt from a loved one. Whether it’s a child gone off to college, a partner on a trip, or a loved one recently passed, the lingering musky scent on the fabric is a complex blend of body odor, clothing fabric, and added products like perfume and laundry detergent.

So, let’s explore the intimate world of “musky” this week. Here’s what I want you to do…

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Welcome to the first session of the Language Labs Summer Sessions!

Today I want to focus on the commonly used word “stinky”.

“Something really smells stinky in here.”

“Phew, that stinks!”

“Oh gross! That’s really stinky.”

A strange place to begin, you might ask? Well maybe, but I think it’s the perfect place to start and here’s why…

Stinky odors are some of the oldest smells we know as humans. Earth’s volcanoes and hot springs have been emitting stinky odors, made largely of sulfur compounds, throughout time. In fact, the most primeval smell - hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) - was around long before the earliest organisms even existed. You recognize it as the “rotten egg” smell. Yeah, that one. There are other common sulfur compounds, like methyl mercaptan (CH₃SH) which is found in bad breath and in some cheeses.

We humans have a biological sensitivity to these compounds. Our noses are exceptionally tuned to sulfur compounds like mercaptans due to evolutionary adaptations; it helps us survive by avoiding spoiled food or harmful gases.

But there’s another reason to start with this word…

Because we’re naturally wired for the negative. Our brain has something called negativity bias, which means we have the tendency to focus more on negative experiences than positive ones. We’re attuned to the bad - the stinky - largely for survival. We notice it more, and we comment on it a lot!

So, let’s explore the wonderful world of stink this week. Here’s what I want you to do…

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Last year I asked my Instagram community what the word “fresh” means to them; I wanted to see if this generic word had multiple meanings. Sure enough people said they used it to describe all kinds of things: the air, their clothes, bread, baked goods, fruit, perfume.

It’s clear that “fresh” has become a catch-all word to describe something we like: the smell isn’t off-putting, no rough edges, feels familiar, sometimes nostalgic, and definitely safe. But does the word really tell us much? Not really.

It got me thinking: What if we could build clearer, richer meaning around the everyday words we use to describe smells?

Today I want to invite you to join me for my 2nd annual Language Lab Summer Sessions: playfully, creative summer writing activities I’m offering this community as part of the Language Lab series here in my Substack.

I do want to be clear: this isn’t summer school. These sessions aren’t meant to be tedious. The aim is to exercise your creative muscle, and to have you simply enjoy the process.

If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that last year we focused on using our four other senses to create broader descriptors for smells. This year I’m changing it up a bit and focusing on some of the most common, frankly boring, words we use every day.

All year I observed what generic words people were using to describe smells, and I’ve narrowed the list down to ten that I noticed the most: stinky, musky, earthy, green, woody, floral, fruity, smoky, fresh, and artificial.

HOW IT WORKS

Every Friday, for the next 10 weeks, we’ll explore each one of these common smell descriptors. I’ll give you a few simple, fun writing exercises to help you give more meaning, and expand the definition of that word.

Each exercise shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes to complete. It’s up to you how deep you want to go, so you can do it every day or just once that week. Of course, I’ll be doing the sessions along with you and will share what I’ve come up with in the comments. I encourage those participating to do the same so we can learn from each other.

I do need to note that these sessions require you to be a paid subscriber to participate (no further action required if you already are - just a heartfelt thank you 💜). I’ve put much thought and effort into these exercises, and for a nominal subscription fee of $6.00 a month (that’s 4 sessions right there), equivalent to a cup of coffee, I hope you’ll feel it’s not too much to ask. You’ll also have access to last year's sessions, if you want to explore even further.

WHY THESE SESSIONS ARE POWERFUL

They sharpen your attention: You start noticing the details. Not just that something smells “nice” or “bad,” but that it has texture, depth, and temperament. Writing helps you put words to the nuances, and that helps make you a better smeller.

They expand your sensory vocabulary: Most of us weren’t taught how to describe what we smell, so the words for what we experience are lacking. Connecting perceptions and feelings to smells allows for more distinctive, vivid communication that’s more meaningful, and better understood.

They can awaken memory: You already know that smell is directly wired to the memory centers of your brain. One whiff of a familiar scent - an old perfume, a woolen blanket, or the ocean breeze - the experience immediately transports you to a moment in time. Writing helps you hold on to that, and lets you reflect on it more deeply.

They can reveal new emotions: We know that smelling is first and foremost an emotional act, and so can be difficult to convey. A smell might make you nostalgic, annoyed, safe, tense, or something you can’t quite explain. Writing about it helps you figure that out. It gives shape to feelings that might otherwise slip away.

They’re a creative act: Smells are invisible, right? But when you describe them, you bring them into the world: as characters, landscapes, colors, textures. Even if you’re not aiming to be a “writer,” you’re learning to tell stories through your nose.

They expand your world: As you explore a single descriptor each week, the exercises will help your brain link seemingly different smells to shared memories, feelings, and ideas: “It smells like a rubber hose in August” or “like a birthday cake left in a warm car.” You’ll start noticing patterns and associations around you that you didn’t even know were there.

So, if you want to feel more connected to the real world, and less to the virtual and artificial one, join me.

If you're looking for an easy-going, creative, and rewarding activity to do this summer, take part in the Language Labs Summer Sessions.

Let’s olfactively express ourselves in community.

This week on my podcast An Aromatic Life:

In this week's whiff of wisdom, Charlie Atkins, who was born with no ability to smell (congenital anosmia), and has never known smells, asks me a bunch of really tough questions about smells.

If you enjoy this whiff, do spread the insight by sharing this episode with your friends and family. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode.

And if you want to hear all of Charlie’s questions, and my attempt to answer them, why not go back and listen to the original full conversation - episode #50.

You can listen to this episode and many more on Apple podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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This is it! I can’t believe we’ve come to the last session. I really do hope you’ve enjoyed doing these creative exercises this summer. I know I have. 

I want to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve done these past 10 weeks - Why can it be valuable to put words to smells?

I think, fo…

Read more

Welcome to the 9th session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

I can’t believe we’re in the homestretch of our summer language lab sessions. It’s been great to work my language muscle to describe olfactory experiences. I hope you’ve been having some fun with it, too. 

This week I want to try something new. Yes, we’re going to continue to describe holistical…

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Welcome to the 8th session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

We continue this week with describing smells holistically using the entire range of vocabulary we've gathered for each of the five senses, along with temperament, to create an integrated and comprehensive description of an olfactory experience.

In last week’s session, we described the smell of a…

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Welcome to the 7th session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

This is an exciting week because we’re going to start pulling together all that we’ve been practicing over the past 6 weeks; we’re going to describe holistically now. 

By "holistically," I mean that we’re considering the entire range of vocabulary we've gathered for each of the five senses, alon…

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Welcome to the 6th session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

We’re more than halfway through the summer sessions, can you believe it? I hope you’re enjoying working your creative muscle in new and interesting ways. 

This week we’re pivoting away from our senses, and focusing on temperament words; descriptors of innate traits and behaviors, if you will. 

Wh…

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Welcome to the 5th session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

This week we’re focusing on our fifth sense - the sense of smell. Now, you might think this is the easiest sense to create descriptions for, but it’s actually surprisingly challenging because most of the words we use to describe smells aren’t, in fact, “smell” words. Go figure. 🤷‍♀️

Here’s how …

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Welcome to the 4th session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

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Welcome to the 3rd session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

This week we’re moving to a sense that I think will be really interesting for you to connect with from an olfactory perspective - our sense of touch. So much of what we smell has a texture to it; as if you can feel your fingers moving across the scent. Keep that reference in mind. 

So, today we’…

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Welcome to the 2nd session of Language Labs Summer Sessions!

I hope you enjoyed your first session last week. Let’s keep that momentum going by continuing with another sense we use a lot - our sense of hearing.

Today we’re focusing on sound words. 

Here too we have a lot of words to describe what we hear, so hopefully it will continue to feel comfortable …

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