I found this article on the internet, I am going to get some PLAY-DOH today and see if I have the same reaction ...... Play-Doh was originally to be a wallpaper cleaner ...
I pop the lid on a new can of Play-Doh and after emptying its bright blue contents, place the can to my face like it’s an airplane oxygen mask. I inhale deeply and then, as if actually on some magical aircraft, I travel to a different place. At once I am at my parents’ dining room table. I can see the pattern of the tablecloth, I can hear my mother in the kitchen behind me and I can taste the cherry Kool-Aid––the drink I used as a chaser after I ate a super-salty morsel of Play-Doh. It’s a wonderfully vivid visit, 30 years in the past.
Scientists call my trip a “Proustian Memory,” named after novelist Marcel Proust, who, in a 1913 novel, described how the smell of a certain cake dipped into lime-blossom tea had caused a flood of powerful memories. We now know there’s a biological reason for what Proust described and what Play-Doh delivers. The sensation of smell, the retrieval of memories and our emotions, are all processed on the right side of the brain and are, therefore, closely linked.
According to aromatherapy experts, that link has the ability to reduce stress, increase energy, and restore the lost balance of the mind, body and soul. Of course, they’re referring to scents like nutmeg and lime-blossom tea, certainly not Play-Doh.
Yet, give any surly adult a sniff of this magical modeling compound and you’ll witness a transformation as remarkable as any from the most fragrant frankincense. The pleasant aroma of Play-Doh can move us and yes, restore our lost balance to mind, body and soul. It smells a little like almonds, a little like grammar school, and a whole lot like childhood.
WOW, I can relate to this ...............
