Language Lab Summer Sessions

Join me here for a 10-week creative practice in olfactory expression.

Today I’m excited to tell you about a playfully creative summer activity I’m offering my community as part of the Language Lab series here in my Substack. Welcome to the Language Lab Summer Sessions! 

Many of you have voiced interest in improving your ability to more meaningfully articulate what you smell. You told me that you want to build confidence in expressing your olfactory experiences, you want to enrich your vocabulary beyond the typical “smell” words, and, perhaps most importantly, you want to do so more quickly, easily, and in a relatable way that's meaningful to the people you communicate with. 

If you’re tired of expressing what you smell to others with nondescript adjectives like good, disgusting, sweet, floral, weird, or fresh then these sessions will be nose-opening. Not only will you have access to a wider array of words, but also words that are more precise, more relatable, and better understood by others, especially those not actively thinking about olfaction like you.

I want to be clear, this isn’t summer school. These sessions aren’t meant to be tedious. Yes, they may feel a bit uncomfortable because you’re practicing expressing yourself in new and novel ways, but really their aim is to exercise your creative muscle and to have you simply enjoy the process. 

“Allow yourself to be surprised by the process.” 

- Rick Rubin, author of The Creative Act: A Way of Being

So, here’s how the Language Lab Summer Sessions work…

Every Friday for the next 10 weeks you’ll get a short email in your inbox with a creative exercise to complete for that week. 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. 

Each exercise includes a prompt with a specific focus which should take you no 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. 

And, as I mentioned, I encourage you to share your learnings in the comments so that we can grow in community. The beauty of creativity is that there’s no right or wrong and, as I’ve learned over the years from teaching, there are countless ways to express an idea. 

I do need to note that these sessions require you to be a paid subscriber to participate. I’ve put much thought and effort into these exercises, and for a nominal fee of $5.00 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.

So, if you’re looking for an easy, creative, and rewarding activity to do this summer, come join me for The Language Labs Summer Sessions. Let’s olfactively express ourselves in community. 

Here’s a small taste whiff of what’s to come…

Beginning with Binaries

Let’s ease our way into expressing what we smell with this simple exercise that doesn’t require you to write anything down. All I want you to do is say what you’re smelling out loud. 

By voicing what you smell, you’re forced to pay attention and use the cognitive part of your brain. Essentially, you’re moving beyond just reacting emotionally to what you smell (mmm nice! / yuck!) to thoughtfully accessing descriptors. 

Prompt: Describe out loud the smell of the foods that you eat, and/or the beverages you drink, in 5 words. 

Note: you are evaluating the in-air smell, not the flavor in the mouth. I encourage you to close your eyes when smelling so you’re truly focused on the smell, not the visual (which is distracting). 

The five words you use should come from the binary scale below that’s based on descriptors from your other senses (not smell):

For example: Smelling the aroma of my morning coffee wafting from my mug, I would describe the smell as “rich, loud, smooth, bright, and warm.”  I like strong coffee with only a hint of milk. 

I recognize that smells aren’t binary and you might not feel that what you’re smelling is totally bright or warm. That’s ok. We’re only warming up here and practicing saying what we smell aloud. The words are simply meant to give you some guardrails to hold onto.

Let me know how it goes! And please do leave a comment below ⬇️ so we can all learn from each other. 

I look forward to growing together!

With aromatic wishes,

Frauke