Hmm… I have many odour associations.
One of my worst associations: Very old or rotten potatoes. I was frequently abused/confined in our garden cellar, under the house, as a child. There was always that rotten potato smell down there. To this day, I get an anxious nausea when smelling that; on the odd occasion I will get flashbacks. It is much better than it used to be though. I used to always get flashbacks and/or involuntary abreactions as soon as that smell hit my nose.
Some of my more positive associations:
– That popular coconut sun tan oil (can’t remember the name) always reminds me of my Mom. She always used that stuff every summer when I was child/teen.
– There is this candle made by Yankee Candle, called Christmas Eve. It’s a very nice familiar smell. I don’t know what memory the smell first came from but I love it. I wish I could remember why.
– Freshly washed/dried white linen or cotton. It reminds me of being taken to a hospital after being rescued from a very traumatic event. I remember feeling so safe there, in that nice clean warm bed…and the nurses were so wonderful to me.
– Camp fire and indoor fire from an open-fireplace/hearth. The camp fire smell reminds me of the good times with my dad, when we’d go camping. The fireplace smell reminds me of my early childhood, feeling the warm comfort at my grandma’s house when there were snowstorms. Dad would drive us there, only a few miles up the road, whenever the snowstorms cut our power and we’d all sleep in front of grandma’s fireplace.
– Freshly baked bread. When we got to visit my Mom, she’d make us fresh bread. Love that smell. Reminds me of the joy in spending time with her as a kid.